Erstwhile House lawmaker turned political influencer George Santos announced Wednesday that his lawyers are in talks with the Justice Department after learning Tuesday that the agency “might be looking into me” over bets on a prediction market.
NPR on Tuesday reported that Santos had been flagged by the prediction market Kalshi for placing several bets on the platform that he would not be attending President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address despite announcing plans to do so on social media. Kalshi, the publication wrote, turned the information over to the DOJ and Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
“The bases [sic] of the accusation is preposterous and I look forward to supplying any information asked of me to any agency that inquires, till then media please do not inquire,” he wrote on X.
It’s the latest legal quagmire faced by the former lawmaker, whose brief career in Congress was undone after it was found that he’d fabricated nearly his entire resume, including that he was Jewish and had worked at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. The House voted to expel him in the wake of a federal indictment and Ethics Committee report.
A judge sentenced Santos to seven years in prison last April for wire fraud and aggravated identity fraud in a case about his personal use of campaign funds and purported charity donations. But he was granted clemency by Trump in October, having spent less than three months behind bars. Santos, though “somewhat of a ‘rogue,’” the president wrote, “had the Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!”
House Speaker Mike Johnson had said he hoped “Mr. Santos makes the most of his second chance.”
Now, he may be back in the law’s crosshairs.
The DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The CFTC told POLITICO it “can’t confirm or deny investigations.”
“I will comment further when appropriate and clarify everything accordingly while being mindful and respectful of any process that might be underway,” he wrote.
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