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Federal regulators are in settlement discussions with a longtime teleprompter operator for President Donald Trump after he was allegedly caught using privileged access to profit from prediction markets on Kalshi.
According to people familiar with the investigation, Gabriel Perez is suspected of making nearly $100,000 by trading on Kalshi’s “mention markets,” where users wager on whether specific words or phrases will be spoken during presidential speeches.
The case is believed to be the first involving a White House staff member accused of exploiting access to non-public information for gains on a prediction market.
Kalshi reportedly detected unusual trading
Perez, who has worked with Trump since 2016 and serves as a deputy assistant to the president, is reportedly negotiating with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) over the alleged activity.
Sources familiar with the matter said Kalshi’s internal surveillance systems identified unusual betting patterns on markets linked to Trump’s public remarks. After reviewing the accounts involved, the company allegedly determined that one of the traders was a federal employee with access to the president’s prepared speeches.
Kalshi said it referred the activity to the CFTC following its internal investigation and has since been cooperating with regulators by providing evidence collected during its review.
The platform has reportedly frozen around $90,000 in alleged profits and permanently banned Perez from placing bets.
White House places Perez on leave
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Perez has been placed on unpaid administrative leave and said the alleged conduct was unacceptable.
Perez earned an annual salary of $175,000, according to public payroll records, and has worked alongside Trump for nearly a decade. The president has previously praised Perez publicly for his work operating teleprompters during campaign events and official appearances.
Perez has not publicly commented on the allegations.
Prediction markets face growing insider trading scrutiny
The investigation comes as prediction markets continue to expand rapidly, attracting increased attention from regulators.
Markets allowing users to wager on the exact words a politician will say have become particularly popular. Ahead of Trump’s latest national address, traders reportedly wagered more than $800,000 on whether he would mention terms including “Hormuz,” “rigged election,” and “fake news.”
Kalshi prohibits trading based on material non-public information under its platform rules. Depending on the circumstances, such conduct could also result in criminal charges, including wire fraud, commodities fraud or money laundering. It remains unclear whether the U.S. Department of Justice is examining Perez’s case.
Part of a wider crackdown
The investigation follows several recent cases involving the alleged misuse of confidential information on prediction market platforms.
In March, White House staff reportedly received an internal memo warning that using non-public government information to trade on prediction markets such as Kalshi or Polymarket could constitute a criminal offence.
More recently, federal prosecutors charged a U.S. Army Special Forces soldier accused of making $400,000 through trades on Polymarket linked to the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
A Google software engineer has also been charged after allegedly making $1.2 million by using confidential company information to trade on prediction markets tied to Google search trends.
Former Congressman George Santos has also reportedly come under investigation after authorities alleged he influenced a Kalshi market related to attendance at Trump’s 2026 State of the Union address before profiting from the outcome.
The latest investigation adds to growing concerns over insider trading risks as prediction markets continue to expand into political, economic and real-world event forecasting.
Source: npr.org
