Overview
- The White House placed Gabriel Perez on unpaid administrative leave Thursday after reports said he made more than $100,000 by betting on Kalshi’s “Mentions” contracts tied to President Trump’s prepared remarks.
- Kalshi’s surveillance team froze over $90,000 in alleged profits and referred the suspicious account activity to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
- CFTC investigators interviewed Perez, who acknowledged some trades, and Manhattan federal prosecutors were notified but declined to open a criminal case while the CFTC discusses a civil settlement.
- Sources say Perez placed wagers on more than a dozen speeches over roughly three months and in some instances adjusted or exited bets mid-speech when the president deviated from the script.
- The episode sharpens scrutiny of prediction markets, may prompt tougher exchange rules and employer-disclosure requirements, and raises questions about ethics controls for staff with access to nonpublic government information.