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The FBI seized the phone and electronic devices of the CEO of the election betting platform that correctly predicted Donald J. Trump’s landslide election win over Kamala Harris.
Unlike the discredited cooked media polls which were forecasting a razor-thin race that raised expectations of a Harris win, Polymarket rightfully predicted a Trump victory for weeks, a conflicting narrative that ultimately turned out to be true once voters had their say.
But success may have a price in Democrat-controlled America. Early Wednesday morning, FBI agents raided the New York City apartment of 26-year-old Shayne Coplan, demanding that he surrender his phone and other electronic devices. He was not arrested nor did the feds give him any reason for why they paid a visit to his Soho pad at 6:00 a.m.
The raid was “grand political theater at its worst,” a source told the New York Post.“They could have asked his lawyer for any of these things. Instead, they staged a so-called raid so they can leak it to the media and use it for obvious political reasons.”
“This is obvious political retribution by the outgoing administration against Polymarket for providing a market that correctly called the 2024 presidential election,” the source said.
Coplan’s recent CNBC appearance was a poke in the eye to the establishment and the professional gaslighters in the media.
“On Polymarket it looked like a done deal, and if you were just watching TV, you would think it’s neck and neck,” says Polymarket CEO @shayne_coplan during his first TV interview on the platform’s early call for Trump. “It is an inflection point in news and politics,” he says: pic.twitter.com/gkjZOR31w3
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) November 7, 2024
“On Polymarket it looked like a done deal, and if you were just watching TV, you would think it’s neck and neck,” Coplan explained during an interview on “Squawk Box” after the election, adding concerning the platform’s early call for Trump, “It is an inflection point in news and politics.”
“The FBI carried out a court-authorized law enforcement activity at [Coplan’s building] earlier today,” an unnamed federal law enforcement source confirmed to Axios.
“Polymarket is a fully transparent prediction market that helps everyday people better understand the events that matter most to them, including elections,” a spokesperson for the company told the outlet. “We charge no fees, take no trading positions, and allow observers from around the world to analyze all market data as a public good.”
Coplan blasted the raid in a post to X on Wednesday evening after presumably getting a new phone.
It’s discouraging that the current administration would seek a last-ditch effort to go after companies they deem to be associated with political opponents. We are deeply committed to being non-partisan, and today is no different, but the incumbents should do some self-reflecting…
— Shayne Coplan (@shayne_coplan) November 13, 2024
“It’s discouraging that the current administration would seek a last-ditch effort to go after companies they deem to be associated with political opponents. We are deeply committed to being non-partisan, and today is no different, but the incumbents should do some self-reflecting and recognize that taking a more pro-business, pro-startup approach may be what would have changed their fate this election,” he wrote.
“Polymarket has provided value to 10’s of millions of people this election cycle while causing harm to nobody. We’re deeply proud of that,” the CEO added. “I’m also proud to say that the future of America, and in particular American entrepreneurship, has never been brighter.”
The FBI and DOJ have carried out numerous raids against those who have run afoul of the Democratic Party during the Biden-Harris administration and it’s hard to see how the storming of Coplan’s apartment isn’t similarly motivated by politics.
On Wednesday, Trump tapped Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to be his new attorney general while his choice to return integrity to the FBI with a replacement for soon-to-be-gone Christopher Wray is yet to be revealed.
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