CFTC probes Adam Kinzinger over pardon-related trades on Kalshi

• The CFTC is investigating former Rep. Adam Kinzinger for trading on Kalshi about a pardon.
• Kinzinger bet on receiving a pardon from then-President Joe Biden in late 2024 and early 2025.
• He wagered a total of $669 and netted $823 on the trades.
• Kinzinger stated he had no insider information and did not discuss pardons with the White House.
• Kalshi flagged Kinzinger's trades to the CFTC.
• Kinzinger was pardoned in January 2025.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is investigating former US Representative Adam Kinzinger for placing trades on the prediction platform Kalshi concerning a presidential pardon he ultimately received. The inquiry focuses on bets Kinzinger made in late 2024 and early 2025 about whether he would be pardoned by then-President Joe Biden.

Kinzinger, a Republican and vocal critic of Donald Trump, acknowledged making the trades to CNN, stating he wagered a total of $669 and netted $823. He maintained that he did not possess any insider information and had not discussed potential pardons with the Biden White House. He described the bet on himself as "dumb" and expressed a wish he had skipped it, but felt he was within his rights to make the wager based on Kalshi's rules.

Sources familiar with the matter indicated that career enforcement officials at the CFTC began scrutinizing pardon markets on platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket after press reports suggested potential insider activity. Kalshi itself flagged Kinzinger's trades to the CFTC as part of its own review of suspicious activity. Kinzinger stated he had not been contacted by investigators or the platform regarding the probe.

President Biden pardoned Kinzinger in January 2025, along with other members of the House committee that investigated Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Biden argued these preemptive pardons were necessary to shield lawmakers from potential retaliation by the incoming Trump administration. Prediction platforms like Kalshi allow users to wager on a wide range of events, including political news.