A White House teleprompter operator is being investigated for allegedly using inside information to bet on US President Donald Trump’s speeches and make nearly $100,000.
Gabriel Perez, who has worked in the White House since 2016, is accused of betting on the words the president will use during major public addresses, including the State of the Union speech.
These deals were made on Kalshi, a prediction market platform where users can bet on real-world events. The firm confirmed that it has reported the activity to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which regulates the platform.
According to reports, Kalshi froze Perez’s account before withdrawing any profits.
The platform told the BBC that its analysts had seen unusual betting on “mention markets” – contracts where users predict whether a speaker will use common words at the march, such as specific countries, economic terms or campaign slogans.
“Words from political leaders like the President and Fed Chairmen cause billions of dollars of movements in FX markets, oil futures.” [and] The stock market,” Kalshi said.
Using the account data, the company discovered that the user was a federal employee running the White House teleprompter.
Over $90,000 was deposited before the exchange withdrew.
Robert DeNault, Kalshi’s head of enforcement, said the company had flagged the trades and submitted evidence to regulators.
White House Press Secretary Carolyn Leavitt said that President Trump was aware of the teleprompter operator and that the employee was now on unpaid leave, before announcing that Perez would no longer work at the White House.
The story, first reported by ABC News, has been confirmed by the BBC’s US partner CBS News.
The sources said Perez has been “fully cooperative” with the CFTC.
ABC said federal prosecutors in Manhattan declined to open a criminal case.
When contacted by the BBC to confirm that it was investigating, the CFTC said it could not “confirm or deny” any investigation.
