Federal regulators are in settlement talks with Gabriel Perez, a White House teleprompter operator accused of profiting from nonpublic knowledge of President Donald Trump’s prepared remarks. Perez was placed on unpaid leave while the Commodity Futures Trading Commission examines his trades on the prediction market Kalshi, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Perez allegedly earned nearly $100,000 by wagering on so-called mention markets tied to Trump’s speeches before the remarks were delivered. Kalshi’s surveillance systems flagged the activity as suspicious and froze approximately $90,000 of his profits. The platform subsequently contacted the CFTC about the unusual trading patterns.
The case follows a March memo to White House staff warning against using nonpublic government information to place bets on Kalshi and Polymarket. The investigation was first reported by ABC News.