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Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., is calling for a pardon for a U.S. Special Forces soldier facing decades in prison after being accused of betting on his own mission, saying it is a double standard for a decorated service member to face prison while lawmakers receive a “slap on the wrist” for similar conduct.
Luna called for the pardon on “The Ingraham Angle” Friday, arguing the possible sentence is not “true justice” as she claims insider trading regularly occurs among members of Congress.
“This man is facing decades in prison,” Luna said. “Meanwhile, every single day on Capitol Hill, there are many members of Congress on both sides that are currently engaging in insider trading.”
Master Sgt. Gannon Ken Van Dyke helped plan the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Federal authorities later said that, before the mission, Van Dyke placed a bet on a prediction market platform that Maduro would be removed, and he won more than $400,000 as a result.
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President Donald Trump weighed in Friday, comparing the case to baseball legend Pete Rose, who was banned from Major League Baseball.
“That’s a little like Pete Rose,” Trump said when asked about the case. “Pete Rose, they kept him out of the Hall of Fame for betting on his own team. Now, if he bet against his team, that would be no good, but he bet on his own team. I’ll look into it.”
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The Florida congresswoman said her effort to bring forth bipartisan legislation to ban insider trading by lawmakers was blocked by leadership.
She said it would not be right for a service member to face years in prison for doing something lawmakers get away with.
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“Is it fair for him to be facing decades while Nancy Pelosi walks free? It’s not,” Luna said.
Pelosi has denied insider trading allegations. In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper last year, she said, “I very much support the stop, the trading of members of Congress. Not that I think anybody’s doing anything wrong. If they are, they are prosecuted and they go to jail.”
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Van Dyke was charged with wire fraud, making an unlawful monetary transaction and violating the Commodity Exchange Act. The bets were made between December 2025 and January 2026, with the last placed just hours before the operation began.
Luna said she does not support Van Dyke’s actions but believes he is being held to a higher standard than lawmakers.
“I don’t agree with what he did. However, I don’t think that this is true justice,” Luna added.