For the first time in its history, prediction platform Kalshi has banned a user from trading on its markets for life. The ban was received by the notorious former Republican Congressman George Santos. He was also fined $71,356. Trading using non-public information or betting on events that they could influence themselves has been punished in recent months by politicians and a White House staffer, and several other similar cases have attracted the attention of federal authorities. What is happening with political stakes in the USA – in the material of RTVI.
Santos improperly earned $17,839.57 from contracts related to whether he would attend President Donald Trump's February State of the Union address, the company said in a statement. Kalshi rules prohibited the ex-congressman from trading in this market as he could directly influence its outcome. In addition, the company alleges that Santos made public statements about his plans to attend the event in an attempt to influence the value of contracts, some of which were false or misleading.
Kalshi explained the life ban instead of a temporary one, among other things, by Santos’ refusal to cooperate with the investigation.
By the way, Santos was not present at Trump’s State of the Union address. He canceled a trip to Washington due to bad weather – and bought contracts accordingly.
“Thank you for the lifetime ban on your gambling platform, Kalshi. Let’s see how long you can hold out,” Santos himself commented on the decision on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
At the same time, Kalshi banned North Carolina Republican House candidate Lori Buckhout from betting for three years (she was also fined $2,589.96). She was betting on her own election victory, which similarly goes against the rules of the platform. As the Wall Street Journal notes, Buckhout has the support of Trump and has every chance of being elected to the lower house of Congress in November.
Earlier this year, for a similar reason, Kalshi banned three politicians for five years: Minnesota State Senator Democrat Matt Klein, Texas Republican Ezekiel Enriquez running for Congress, and former US Senate candidate from Virginia Mark Moran (independent). At the same time, the first two agreed to a settlement agreement with the platform and paid $539.85 and $784.20, respectively. Moran, who refused the agreement, received a fine of $6,229.30.
“Pathological liar” from Congress
Santos in 2023 became the first parliamentarian in 20 years to be expelled from the US House of Representatives by a vote of his colleagues, largely for providing false data. He claimed, for example, that his mother survived the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, that he had Jewish roots, a prestigious education and experience producing a Broadway musical about Spider-Man. Santos also filed false reports with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), in which he inflated the amount of money he raised for his campaign.
In April 2025, Santos was sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of wire fraud and identity theft. It turned out that the politician, among other things, withdrew money from donors’ credit cards, which he spent, among other things, on luxury brand clothing, Botox injections and purchasing subscriptions on the OnlyFans platform, known for pornographic content. In their memorandum, prosecutors called Santos a “pathological liar.”
Six months after the sentence, Trump commuted it. Santos was released. He spent less than three months in prison.
It's already like a trend
Political insider trading is increasingly at the center of scandals in the United States. For example, last week the WSJ reported that federal authorities were preparing charges against a service member who earned more than $1 million betting on American operations in Venezuela and Iran.
That same week, former White House teleprompter Gabriel Perez was fined $65,000; he must also return more than $107,000 in winnings.
As RTVI reported, Perez choreographed more than a dozen presidential speeches in just three months. Sometimes, right during the head of the White House’s address, he managed to refuse a bet that had already been made if Trump missed a fragment with certain words. However, Perez has worked with the Republican teleprompter since the 2016 presidential campaign and was considered one of his most trusted employees. After the publicity, Trump called the incident a “disgrace” and personally decided to remove him.
However, the president’s entourage, in particular his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, were repeatedly suspected of illegal insider trading. And in July, Democrats officially called for checking the legality of the Truth API service, which provides traders and large investors with priority access to the publications of the head of the White House on the Truth Social social network for an additional fee.
