President Trump is facing a major choice.
A scandal erupted, and only Trump can fix the problem.
And a close ally begged Donald Trump for this bold act of mercy.
Prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket present tempting opportunities for insider trading.
Fears turned into reality when the Department of Justice announced criminal charges against Master Sgt. Gannon Ken Van Dyke for using classified information he had access to as part of his role in the operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife to $400,000 on 13 futures bets on Maduro’s fate, including the timing and outcome of the operation to take him into custody.
Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) is one of the strongest America First voices in Congress and one of President Trump’s most loyal allies.
Luna wrote on social media that Trump should pardon Van Dyke unless the Department of Justice also plans to charge every member of Congress who exploits their position to strike it rich in the stock market with insider trading, too.
“Maybe not a popular take, but I am calling for this guy to be pardoned. Unless the DOJ plans on going after all the crooks in Congress currently engaging in insider trading, this is simply skewed justice,” Luna posted on X. “There is no ‘justice’ when guys like this get the book thrown at him, yet members are illegally profiting every day. I don’t agree with what he did, and he should be required to disgorge all the profits; however, unless the DOJ plans on doing Congress next, this is not justice.”
Federalist co-founder Sean Davis added that he thought these prediction markets turned America into a nation of gambling and addicts and that what Van Dyke did was wrong.
But Davis wondered how it was any different that Oklahoma RINO Senator Markwayne Mullin bought tens of thousands of dollars in Chevron stock, one of the oil companies that stood to benefit from a free Venezuela, days before the Maduro raid.
I am conflicted about this whole thing. I think these betting markets are a cancer, but how is what this guy did any different than a U.S. senator buying up $50,000 in Chevron stock days before the Maduro raid (after liquidating his position in Chevron earlier in 2025)?
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) April 24, 2026
Are we… https://t.co/3DMQCzAz3j pic.twitter.com/ONBqHSaDJe
Reporters asked President Trump about this in the Oval Office, and he admitted to the difficulty of the situation, explaining that these prediction markets were now a part of American life even though, as a former casino owner, he’s not a giant fan of the easy access to gambling they present to the public.
“Well, you know, the whole world, unfortunately, has become somewhat of a casino. And you look at what’s going on all over the world, in Europe, and every place, they’re doing these betting things. I was never much in favor of it. I don’t like it, conceptually,” Trump stated. “But it is what it is. No, I think that I’m not happy with any of that stuff, but they have all these different sites. They have predictive markets. It’s a crazy world. It’s a much different world than it was.”
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