From the Liveblog of
Monday, August 31, 2026
Kalshi bans ex-US Rep. George Santos for life after concluding he likely was insider trading
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
The online prediction market platform Kalshi says it has permanently banned former US Rep. George Santos after concluding the former Republican congressman likely engaged in insider trading when he bet against his attendance at US President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address.
The company announces the ban after saying its compliance department had established reasonable cause to believe Santos engaged in insider trading over his attendance at the address, when he turned a $17,839 profit on his trading activity.
The convicted ex-congressman had repeatedly discussed his intention to attend the State of the Union, which came just four months after he was granted clemency by Trump in a fraud case that led to his expulsion from the US House.
On the eve of Trump’s speech, Kalshi put the odds of Santos attending at close to 75%.
Then, minutes into the speech, Santos posted on X that he had been waylaid at the airport. Immediately, several social media users accused him of running another scheme.
Kalshi’s Compliance Department issued the lifetime ban, effective last Friday, against Santos, preventing him from accessing its platform directly or indirectly. The site is also imposing a $71,356 penalty.
It says Santos was prohibited from trading in the market over whether he would attend the address because he was capable of influencing the outcome.
Yet, it added, he placed a series of large bets between February 2 and 25 on whether he would attend the event and then began making public statements regarding whether he would attend in an effort to influence the price of the bets.
“Some of these included false or misleading statements,” the Compliance Department says as it describes its findings.
An email seeking comment from Santos on Monday is not immediately returned.
Santos, who won office as a Republican after inventing a bogus persona as a Wall Street dealmaker, was sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to fraud and identity theft in 2024. After serving just 84 days, he was ordered released by Trump, who called Santos a “rogue” but said he did not deserve a harsh sentence and should get credit for voting Republican.
Santos also lied about being Jewish.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.