In a twist that has caught the attention of federal regulators, a White House teleprompter operator is under investigation for allegedly profiting from inside information. The individual in question, Gabriel Perez, reportedly engaged in betting activities related to President Donald Trump’s speeches.
NPR reports that Perez is in discussions with federal authorities regarding nearly $100,000 in earnings from “mention bets” on the Kalshi platform. These prediction markets have surged in popularity, allowing users to wager on the likelihood of specific phrases being mentioned in speeches.
Given Perez’s access to the speech content, his significant earnings raised eyebrows, especially as Kalshi explicitly prohibits using confidential information for betting. In March, the White House issued a memo cautioning staff against leveraging nonpublic knowledge in prediction markets.
Kalshi identified unusual betting patterns linked to Perez, prompting further investigation. “Our surveillance team promptly flagged and referred these trades to the CFTC after an exchange investigation. We have been assisting regulators on this matter and provided evidence we collected, as we do in any referral,” stated Robert DeNault, head of enforcement at Kalshi.
In response to these findings, Kalshi has frozen approximately $90,000 of Perez’s profits and barred him from future trades on their platform. Perez now finds himself on unpaid administrative leave from his White House duties, though the extent of any additional consequences remains unclear.
Reacting to the incident, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt remarked that Trump found the situation “deeply unfortunate and frankly a disgrace.”
Leavitt emphasized the ethical expectations at the White House, stating, “There are very strict ethical guidelines here at the White House that explicitly state not to do this, and the White House counsel’s office makes that clear to all of us who sign up to work in government on behalf of the president, so I think there has been a plan in place. This individual, unfortunately violated the plan, and therefore he’s paying the consequences for it.”
While the teleprompter operator faces scrutiny, broader questions arise about ethical practices within the administration. Since his tenure began, Trump has engaged in numerous stock transactions, often aligning with policy announcements that could impact market values.
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