Overview
- The White House placed teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez on unpaid administrative leave on Thursday after reports said he used advance access to presidential remarks to place winning bets on the Kalshi prediction market.
- Kalshi’s internal surveillance flagged unusual activity, froze roughly $90,000 in alleged profits in the account, and referred the trades to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for review.
- Investigators say Perez typically saw near-final prepared remarks and sometimes adjusted or exited wagers during speeches when President Trump departed from the script.
- Manhattan federal prosecutors were notified but declined to pursue criminal charges, and Perez is negotiating a possible civil settlement with the CFTC that could require returning profits and banning similar trading.
- The case highlights growing regulatory scrutiny of prediction markets, which have tightened disclosure rules and drawn proposals from lawmakers to restrict trading by officials with access to nonpublic information.