The Justice Department is investigating former congressman George Santos for alleged insider trading on Kalshi, the online prediction market, according to NPR. The probe centers on a bet Santos allegedly placed on whether he would appear at the State of the Union address – a question only he could answer with any certainty.
Santos, the Long Island Republican who was expelled from the House in November 2023 after a federal fraud indictment, has been in and out of legal trouble ever since. This latest investigation adds a new front. Kalshi lets users wager real money on the outcome of political and current-events questions, and federal authorities appear to be looking at whether Santos used non-public knowledge about his own plans to profit from those markets.
The specifics of how much Santos allegedly wagered, or whether he made money on the bet, weren’t detailed in NPR’s June 2, 2026 report. No charges have been announced.
Santos was formally removed from Congress after the House voted 311-114 to expel him – only the sixth member ever expelled. He had already pleaded not guilty to a 23-count federal indictment in New York that included wire fraud, identity theft, and falsifying records. That case is still pending.
Whether the Kalshi investigation will produce a separate indictment, or fold into the existing New York case, isn’t clear yet.
Reported by NPR. Read the original report.
