From Legal Hitman to Government Merc: How the Lawyer Who Torched the CFTC Now Sues States for Kalshi

Yaakov Roth, the legal gunslinger who once helped Kalshi light the CFTC on fire in court, is now on Uncle Sam’s payroll—suing states to protect the very company he used to rep. Talk about a plot twist worthy of a degen soap opera.

Roth was the brains behind Kalshi’s landmark win in KalshiEX v. CFTC, a case that basically told the federal regulator to chill its jets. Now? His business card reads “Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, DOJ Civil Division.” Funny how life works—especially when you’ve already won the boss fight and can pick your next quest.

This week’s federal complaints against Illinois, Arizona, and Connecticut name-drop Roth like he’s a featured artist. The DOJ, now wearing Kalshi-colored glasses, argues that state gambling laws don’t get veto power over federal-style prediction markets. It’s not hypocrisy—it’s jurisdictional choreography, baby.

Roth joined the DOJ in February 2025, fresh off a 2024 victory lap when the DC Circuit denied the CFTC’s Hail Mary to block Kalshi’s election contracts. He argued the full appeal in January 2025—then did the legal equivalent of flipping teams mid-game. The CFTC folded by May 2025, surrendering like a trader on a 10x long during a flash crash.

And Roth’s not flying solo in this revolving door club. Eliezer Mishory, Kalshi’s ex-General Counsel, bailed in March 2025 for a mysterious “DOGE-related” role at the SEC—officially titled Senior Advisor to the Chairman. Prior to that, he worked at the CFTC under Brian Quintenz, making the whole thing feel less like career moves and more like a crypto-themed game of Clue.

Quintenz, the former CFTC commissioner turned Kalshi board member since 2021, was tapped by Trump to run the CFTC again in February 2025. But by September, the nomination got yeeted after leaked docs showed his staff casually fishing for intel on Kalshi’s rivals. Nothing says “regulatory neutrality” like a background check from your buddy’s startup.

Kalshi’s influence doesn’t stop at the agency doors. Donald Trump Jr.—yes, that Trump—has been moonlighting as a Kalshi advisor and sits on Polymarket’s advisory board. Whether he’s there for policy insights or meme synergy remains classified, but the optics? Chef’s kiss for the conspiracists.

Arizona didn’t play nice. In March 2026, it went full cowboy, slinging 20 criminal charges at Kalshi—including four counts of “election wagering,” as if that’s a felony and not just a Tuesday on Polymarket. Meanwhile, the rest of the country watched and Googled “how to short Arizona’s reputation.”

CFTC Chair Michael Selig, a Trump pick, declared in February that the agency would “no longer sit idly by” while states flexed their gambling statutes. His Innovation Advisory Committee? A who’s-who of Kalshi, Polymarket, FanDuel, and DraftKings execs—35 members, with maybe one actual consumer rep (buried under a pile of NDAs and stock options).

Let’s not pretend: sports betting is Kalshi’s main gig. The platform moved over $1 billion in Super Bowl trades alone—proving Americans care more about whether Patrick Mahomes will throw a pick-six than about the constitutional crisis playing out in the background.

States call it gambling. The Trump administration calls it “prediction markets.” Legal semantics, sure—but