1. United States
2. Miss.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to support legislation that would regulate betting markets like Polymarket and specifically ban wagering on government actions where insiders could exploit privileged information for financial gain. On February 28, 2026, the U.S. and Israel struck Iran. Hours before the attack, six newly created Polymarket accounts placed bets on the exact timing of these strikes and won a combined $1.2 million. The highest-earning account made over half a million dollars. While one account showed some earlier activity testing different dates, all six accounts placed bets on February 28 the day before the attack occurred. Polymarket users gambled more than $500 million total on when the U.S. would strike Iran. This represents a clear case of insider trading in government information. Someone with access to classified planning details appears to have used that knowledge to profit personally. This is fundamentally corrupt and undermines public trust in government decision-making. In January 2026, similar concerns arose when someone allegedly close to the Trump administration made $400,000 from bets related to the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. These patterns reveal a systemic problem with unregulated prediction markets that creates financial incentives for government officials and their associates to leak sensitive information for personal profit. Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut has already committed to introducing legislation to outlaw this practice, calling the situation "insane this is legal." I strongly agree. When government officials or those with access to privileged information can profit from betting on military operations, diplomatic actions, or other sensitive government decisions, it creates the same corruption we prohibit in financial markets through insider trading laws. These betting markets operate with complete transparency of user data, yet there is no mechanism to prevent or investigate potential insider trading. The small circle of officials who know about classified operations in advance should not be able to monetize that knowledge through gambling platforms. I urge you to co-sponsor Senator Murphy's forthcoming legislation or introduce similar measures that would prohibit betting on government military operations and other decisions where insider knowledge could be exploited for profit.