The CFTC orders ex-GOP Rep. George Santos to pay $35,000 over trades on Kalshi

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has ordered George Santos to pay $35,000 after the agency found the former Republican congressman traded on who would attend this year’s State of the Union and whether he would attend, too. 

The CFTC announced on Friday that Santos is banned from trading for three years and will pay a civil monetary penalty of $17,500. He must also give up the $17,569.98 he made from trading, the agency said. Santos agreed to not further violate the Commodity Exchange Act and other CFTC regulations, the agency added. 

The agency had found Santos had traded on the Kalshi event contracts in February, one of which asked whether he would attend the State of the Union. 

“I’m going to be there for the State of Union in the gallery, guys,” Santos said in an X post the day before the address. He then posted he was watching from the airport the next day. 

“After these posts, the SOTU contract prices moved in a direction that was favorable to Santos’ positions which allowed him to make over $17,500,” the CFTC wrote. 

In a social media post on X, Santos shared a statement from his lawyer Joseph Murray. “Mr. Santos has agreed to resolve the CFTC’s inquiry and to put this matter behind him,” Murray said. “Critically, and consistent with how these regulatory matters are commonly resolved, Mr. Santos has settled without admitting any of the Commissions allegations, findings, or conclusions.”

Santos was previously sentenced to 87 months for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, though President Donald Trump commuted his sentence last fall. 

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