In a move that has absolutely nothing to do with his previous evictions from Congress, Kalshi has permanently banned former Republican Rep. George Santos from its prediction market platform - the first lifetime ban in the company's history. The ban comes after allegations that Santos bet on whether he would attend President Trump's State of the Union address, allegedly pocketing $17,839 on the wager. Kalshi's compliance department, presumably with a straight face, said it 'established reasonable cause' to believe Santos placed bets on his own attendance, which is against the rules because, as Kalshi noted, 'As a person capable of influencing the outcome of the underlying event, Santos was prohibited from trading in this market.' They also fined him $71,356, which is a lot of money for someone who may or may not have been using his campaign funds for personal expenses.

Santos, never one to let a scandal go without a quippy response, took to X (formerly Twitter) to say: 'Hey @Kalshi thanks for the lifetime ban from your gambling platform. Let's see how much longer you guys are around for.' Bold words from a man whose political career ended about as quickly as his lies about being a Wall Street wizard.

But Santos isn't the only one in the naughty corner. Kalshi also penalized and suspended several other political candidates accused of betting on their own races, including Ben Midgely, who ran and lost in the Republican primary for Maine's gubernatorial race; Laurie Buckhout, a Republican congressional nominee; and former California gubernatorial candidate Stephen Cloobeck. It's almost like politicians betting on themselves is a recurring theme, but who are we to judge?

This ban follows a separate CFTC settlement two months earlier over the same conduct, in which Santos agreed to pay an additional $35,000. So, in total, Santos is out $124,195 for a bet that might have earned him a fraction of that - unless he's planning to write a book about it, in which case he might actually turn a profit.