A White House teleprompter operator is under investigation for allegedly exploiting inside knowledge to place bets on President Donald Trump's public speeches, reportedly accumulating nearly $100,000 in potential profits before the activity was detected.
Gabriel Perez, who had been employed at the White House since 2016, is accused of wagering on specific words and phrases the president would use during major addresses, including the State of the Union speech. The allegations center on whether his role gave him advance access to the contents of presidential speeches before they were delivered publicly.
How the Alleged Betting Scheme Was Detected
The bets were placed on Kalshi, a prediction markets platform that enables users to wager on real-world events. The platform offers what it calls "mention markets" — contracts in which users predict whether a speaker will use certain common terms during a public address. These terms can include specific country names, economic vocabulary, or campaign slogans.
Kalshi stated that the words of political leaders, including presidents and Federal Reserve chairs, regularly cause billions of dollars in movement across foreign exchange markets, oil futures, and stock markets. This context underscores why advance knowledge of speech content could be financially advantageous.
According to the company, its analysts noticed unusual betting patterns on these mention markets in March. Using account data gathered during their investigation, Kalshi was able to identify the user as a federal employee responsible for operating White House teleprompters — a role that would presumably involve access to speech scripts before they are delivered.
The platform acted quickly, freezing more than $90,000 in the account before any profits could be withdrawn. Kalshi confirmed that it reported the activity to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the federal agency responsible for regulating the platform.
Regulatory and Political Fallout
Robert DeNault, Kalshi's head of enforcement, said the firm flagged the suspicious trades and handed evidence over to regulators. When contacted by the BBC to confirm whether an investigation was underway, the CFTC declined to comment, stating it could not "confirm or deny" any probe.
Sources familiar with the matter said Perez has been "fully cooperative" with the CFTC. The story was first reported by ABC News and subsequently confirmed by the BBC's US partner, CBS News.