Congressman Hamadeh Demands Answers from Commodity Futures Trading Commission Regarding CNN/Kalshi Partnership

WASHINGTON D.C. - This week, Congressman Abe Hamadeh (AZ-08) shared his concerns with Acting Chairwoman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Caroline D. Pham about the recently announced partnership between Kalshi and CNN. Congressman Hamadeh expressed his concern that this partnership "poses direct and foreseeable threats to market integrity, democratic stability, and American national security."

Congressman Hamadeh sent a letter to Acting Chairwoman Pham on behalf of his constituents who have "raised alarm bells about a media company with a long-documented record of partisan manipulation now positioning itself to influence and profit from geopolitical events in real time." Congressman Hamadeh advised Acting Chairwoman Pham that this partnership is "not merely inappropriate; it is outright dangerous."

"CNN would be uniquely positioned to shape public perception and news cycles around the very events Kalshi lists as tradable markets," wrote Congressman Hamadeh. These events would involve elections, war, foreign policy crises, and domestic instability. No other major media outlet has attempted such a partnership, and for good reason: it creates a built-in structural conflict of interest that allows an influential news organization or foreign adversaries to shape outcomes for financial or competitive advantage. I am not surprised that a media entity that has faced persistent concerns regarding accuracy, impartiality, and narrative framing would allow the potential for foreign governments, domestic political groups, or adversarial actors to escalate tensions, manipulate narratives, and pressure institutions in order to profit through Kalshi's event-contract platform."

As Congressman Hamadeh noted, "Section 5c(c)(5)(C) of the Commodity Exchange Act requires the Commission to prohibit contracts involving war, gaming, or those "contrary to the public interest," including markets vulnerable to manipulation or capable of influencing underlying events."

The Kalshi-CNN partnership appears to violate the aforementioned ruling. In fact, one media outlet reports that "one recent Kalshi betting market allowed people to bet on whether Palestinians in Gaza would suffer mass starvation," and "when Israel will bomb Gaza, bomb the West Bank, or annex either?"

"The situation is chilling, and I have questions," stated Congressman Hamadeh. " I want to know what actions the Commodity Futures Trading Commission taking to review the Kalshi-CNN partnership under Section 5c(c)(5)(C), particularly regarding risks of informational conflicts of interest and event manipulation. We need to know if the Commission is assessing this partnership to see if it is creating vulnerabilities for foreign or domestic actors to influence U.S politics, economics, or national security outcomes for financial profit."

"Has the Commission evaluated whether CNN's editorial influence over politically sensitive subject matter, combined with Kalshi's event contracts render these markets "contrary to the public interest? We need to know. The CFTC's mission is to safeguard the integrity of U.S. markets, and allowing CNN, a network already viewed by many Americans as a propagandistic actor, to operate inside a live prediction market creates unacceptable national-security and governance vulnerabilities," wrote Congressman Hamadeh, giving the Acting Chair 30 days to detail the Commission's assessment and its intended actions regarding the Kalshi-CNN partnership.

READ CONGRESSMAN HAMADEH'S LETTER HERE.