Prediction market Kalshi has imposed its first-ever lifetime ban on former Rep. George Santos over alleged insider bets tied to whether he would attend the 2026 State of the Union, according to the Associated Press (AP). The AP reported that Santos profited $17,839 after wagering he would not attend—and he did not. He had appeared to tease an appearance, then later posted on X that he was watching the address on an airport TV, per the AP.
Ban, penalty and access limits
As a result of the ban, Santos will be barred from accessing Kalshi directly or indirectly, the AP reported. The outlet also reported Kalshi levied a $71,356 penalty linked to the trades.
Santos pushes back
In an Aug. 31 post on X addressing Kalshi, Santos wrote: “Hey @Kalshi thanks for the lifetime ban from your gambling platform. Let’s see how much longer you guys are around for.”
In a subsequent post, he added: “By the way @Kalshi is such an unserious company it violates its own notices and deadlines lol. On August 7th they gave us a 30 day notice and today they leaked/ announced once again their frivolous nonsense.” He continued: “Leaking and attention seeking seem to be the M/O of this organization. Pathetic!”
Who else was penalized
Alongside the Santos action, Kalshi also issued a penalty against Laurie Buckhout, a Republican running for Congress in North Carolina, ABC News reported. Details of that penalty were not provided in the source text.
Background
Santos was expelled from Congress following a bipartisan vote in December 2023. In April 2025, he was sentenced to 87 months in prison for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, according to a Department of Justice press release cited in the source. The DOJ said Santos made false statements to the House about his income and assets and engaged in credit card fraud, political solicitation, and unemployment insurance schemes between 2020 and 2022.
