Former Republican New York Rep. George Santos is reportedly under investigation for allegedly betting against his attendance at the State of the Union (SOTU) address back in February.
After Santos stated on X that he planned to come to the address, he never showed up. At around the time of the SOTU, prediction market Kalshi allegedly found that he had bet against his attendance at the speech, the New York Times (NYT) reported, citing a person familiar.
Federal officials are probing whether Santos participated in insider trading, according to the outlet.
Santos put out a video on Feb. 23 announcing that he planned to be present for the State of the Union.
“I’m going to be there for the State of the Union in the gallery, guys,” he said. “Just chill, trolls, chill.” (RELATED: ‘I’m Not Built For This’: George Santos Tells Tucker Carlson He Might Not ‘Survive’ Prison)
Santos told NPR that the investigation was news to him. The outlet asked if he had a Kalshi account.
“I’m not saying yes, I’m not saying no,” Santos replied.
Watching SOTU from an airport tv was not part of the plan! FML 😡🤬
— George Santos (@Georgesantos) February 24, 2026
He informed the outlet that he would reach out to the co-founder of Kalshi, whom he knows personally, to learn if there really was an investigation. Santos also said he would let NPR know how the call went, but the outlet claimed he never responded to their follow-up inquiries.
Three people with direct knowledge of his alleged trades told NPR Santos had placed bets on the platform that he was not going to attend the SOTU address.
Bettors on the prediction market Kalshi made wagers on his attendance. Kalshi allegedly discovered Santos had bet against his own attendance, a source familiar told the NYT. Kalshi informed the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) of the alleged incident, the source told the outlet. The CFTC, which oversees prediction markets, is now actively investigating him, another anonymous source told NYT.
The NYT reported it was unclear whether the DOJ was investigating. NPR, citing two people familiar, reported that both the CFTC and the DOJ had both launched investigations into the former representative.
The former representative was arrested in early May 2023 on 13 charges regarding fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and false statements.
President Donald Trump successfully commuted Santos’ over seven-year sentence, and he was released in October 2025, only a few months after his imprisonment.
Before his sentence was decided, Santos was also in the headlines for his involvement on Cameo, where he was reportedly charging $500 per personal recorded message. He asserted in 2024 that he had made more than $600,000 with the video platform.
The Daily Caller reached out to an email for Santos but has not received a response as of publication.