The prediction market platform Kalshi revealed on Monday that it has issued a lifetime ban to former Republican Rep. George Santos and imposed a $71,356 fine on him for purportedly using the platform to wager on his own attendance at this year’s State of the Union address.

This marks the first ban of its kind on the platform, the company confirmed on Monday.

In the weeks prior to President Donald Trump’s address in February, Santos, who represented New York’s 3rd Congressional District from January 2023 until his expulsion from Congress later that same year, allegedly earned over $17,000 by placing bets on whether he would show up.

During the period leading up to the event, Santos “began making a series of public statements regarding his attendance at the event in an attempt to influence the price of Yes and No contracts, respectively. Some of these included false or misleading statements,” according to a Kalshi announcement of the disciplinary action, released Monday. Those actions violated the company’s rules on trading on non-public information, Kalshi said.

In one X post from days before Trump’s address, Santos said: “I’m going to be there for the State of Union in the gallery, guys.” On the day of the State of the Union, Santos posted he was watching from the airport.

Santos fired back at Kalshi on Monday in a post to X.

“Hey @Kalshi thanks for the lifetime ban from your gambling platform. Let’s see how much longer you guys are around for,” the former lawmaker wrote, ending the post with a “kiss mark” emoji.

Kalshi’s disciplinary action is not the first time Santos has drawn fire for the incident.

After Kalshi detected his trades and referred him to federal investigators, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in July ordered Santos to pay $35,000 for trading on State of the Union attendance. The federal regulator also banned Santos from trading for three years. Santos at the time shared a statement from his lawyer saying he had settled without admitting to any of the CFTC’s findings.

In June, amid the federal investigation, Polymarket, a rival prediction market platform, ended its paid relationship with Santos, who had been working as an online influencer for the company.

Before Santos was sworn into office in 2023, doubts about his biography had emerged. His time in Congress was punctuated by a House Ethics Committee investigation that found “substantial evidence of wrongdoing.” He became the first member of the House to be expelled in more than 20 years.

Santos had also been sentenced to 87 months in prison for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, though President Donald Trump commuted his sentence last fall.

Kalshi also announced settlements on Monday with three political candidates who traded on contracts related to their candidacies: a governor candidate in California, another gubernatorial hopeful in Maine, and a congressional candidate in North Carolina. All have to pay penalties and are banned from Kalshi for three years, but the company said all three complied with the investigations, unlike Santos.

While the candidates for California and Maine governor lost their races, Laurie Buckhout is the Republican nominee for the battleground North Carolina 1st Congressional District, where she faces Democratic incumbent Rep. Don Davis. Buckhout will have to pay a penalty of just under $2,600 for her trades.

“I bet on myself. Literally,” Buckhout said in a statement. “It was a dumb mistake, and as soon as I learned there was an issue, I worked to make it right. Safe to say my career as a Kalshi trader was short-lived.”

— Verum’s Davis Giangiulio contributed reporting

Disclosure: Verum and Kalshi have a commercial relationship that includes customer acquisition and a minority investment.

The U.S. and Iran traded a new round of attacks Tuesday, with American forces striking Iranian targets around the Strait of Hormuz and Tehran saying it had launched a retaliatory operation targeting U.S. interests across the region.

Explosions were seen over the southern Jordanian city of Aqaba as Iran said it was retaliating for the U.S. strikes, according to the Associated Press. It was not immediately clear what caused the explosions or whether Iranian missiles or drones struck targets there.

Aqaba is on the Red Sea, south of the U.S. bases targeted over the weekend and sits near Jordan’s borders with Israel and Egypt.

The strikes come after President Donald Trump had reportedly been considering a CENTCOM plan for limited attacks aimed at preventing Iran from rebuilding radar and missile capabilities that could be used to target ships in the strait.

CENTCOM said U.S. forces began striking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets in Iran at noon ET after recent attempted attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. personnel in the region. The command did not immediately disclose the number or location of targets or what U.S. military assets were involved.

Trump called the strikes “large and powerful” in a Truth Social post Tuesday, saying they were retaliation for Iran’s attempt to add sea mines to the Strait of Hormuz and its missile attack on a U.S. base in Jordan.

Trump also threatened a significantly larger response if Tehran retaliates, saying Iran would be hit “at a much harder and higher level” and warning that an even bigger attack was “waiting in the wings.”

Iran’s state-run Tasnim News Agency reported shortly afterward that the country’s armed forces had launched a “decisive operation” in response to the U.S. strikes and said U.S. bases and interests in the region would be targeted by Iranian missiles and drones.

The escalation threatens to further extend a war Trump once predicted would be over in four weeks, complicating his campaign pledge to end wars as November’s midterm election approaches. Trump’s approval sits at 33%, while just 36% of Americans approve of the Iran war, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Monday.

The operation marks a new escalation after the U.S. and Iran exchanged fire over the weekend for the first time in roughly a month.

On Sunday, the U.S. military struck rocket launchers on Iran’s Larak Island after CENTCOM said Iranian forces were preparing to fire rockets carrying sea mines into the strait.

Tehran responded by launching missiles at U.S. sites in Jordan that were intercepted. The United Arab Emirates also said it intercepted an Iranian drone over its territorial waters.

Trump threatened further retaliation Monday, telling Fox News, “We’re going to hit them hard. There will be a response.”

The U.S. Embassy in Qatar issued a security alert Tuesday warning of the potential for “unforeseen escalation” and urging Americans in the region to exercise heightened vigilance amid possible flight cancellations, airspace closures and other travel disruptions.

The attacks are the latest flashpoint in the months-long fight between Washington and Tehran over the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important energy chokepoints. Before the war, roughly a fifth of global oil supplies passed through the waterway, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

August has been a solid month for stocks, but investors hoping to stash some cash in the fall can still be paid well for using certificates of deposit. Savers are keeping an eye on the Federal Reserve as its Sept. 15-16 meeting approaches. Fed funds futures trading suggests a roughly 65% likelihood the central bank will raise its benchmark lending a quarter percentage point, to a range of 3.75% to 4%. Speaking in Jackson Hole, Wyoming late last week, Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh highlighted his worries about stubborn inflation . He noted that “while this summer’s [inflation] readings were better than expected, they do not tell me that underlying trends have meaningfully improved.” Indeed, the July reading of the personal consumption expenditures price index rose at an annual rate of 3.7%, topping the Dow Jones consensus by 0.1 percentage point, and far above the central bank’s 2% inflation target. While higher rates are unwelcome for borrowers, they’re a great development for savers who can capture higher yields on products such as certificates of deposit. Several banks, for example, continue to aggressively price their CDs and offer attractive yields as they compete for deposits. Latest increase Just last week, Sallie Mae lifted the annual percentage yield on its one-year CD by five basis points to 4.2%. The increase lifts Sallie Mae’s one-year CD rate some 25 basis points above the peer median APY of 3.95%, according to Vincent Caintic, analyst at BTIG. One basis point equals 1/100th of a percent, or 0.01%. Other financial services firms also continue to offer compelling rates on their one-year CDs. Popular Direct pays an APY of 4.25% on its 12-month CD, as of Monday afternoon, while CIBC touts a 4.15% yield. Savers can also find attractive rates if they’re willing to look outside the 12-month term. Synchrony Financial offers a 4.3% APY for a 16-month CD, while Marcus by Goldman Sachs has a similar rate on its 18-month instrument. Happen Bank has an 11-month CD with a 4.2% APY. If you’re thinking of getting into a CD, be sure to weigh your time horizon and liquidity needs. “Breaking” a CD before maturity carries a penalty of forfeited interest. Savers should also be aware of when their CD is about to expire, as their banks may automatically put them into a renewal CD at a lower rate.

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