A former White House teleprompter technician is at the center of a federal investigation after being accused of exploiting confidential access to President Donald Trump’s prepared speeches to place illegal insider bets that netted nearly $100,000 in potential profits, multiple major U.S. news outlets have confirmed.
Gabriel Perez, who had served on the White House staff since Trump first took office in 2016, allegedly placed wagers on Kalshi, a digital prediction marketplace that allows users to bet on the outcome of real-world events, including specific word choices in high-profile political addresses. The scheme focused on major public remarks from the president, most notably the annual State of the Union address, where Perez used his advance knowledge of the speech’s text to bet that specific pre-selected terms would appear in the address.
In an official statement shared with the BBC, Kalshi representatives confirmed that their internal risk team first flagged suspicious activity in March, when analysts identified irregular patterns in betting on the platform’s so-called “mention markets” — contract listings that let users predict whether a public speaker will reference specific topics, countries, economic phrases or campaign slogans during a given address.
“The words of top political leaders, from presidents to Federal Reserve chairs, can move billions of dollars across foreign exchange markets, oil futures and global stock markets,” Kalshi noted in its comment, underscoring the inherent risk of insider activity on prediction contracts tied to public policy remarks.
After cross-referencing account details and user information, the company confirmed that the account linked to the suspicious trades belonged to Perez, a federal employee responsible for drafting and operating the president’s teleprompters. Acting quickly to block potential illicit gains, Kalshi froze the account before Perez could withdraw more than $90,000 in accumulated profits.
Robert DeNault, Kalshi’s head of enforcement, confirmed the firm immediately reported the suspicious activity to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the federal regulator that oversees prediction market platforms operating in the United States, and turned over all collected evidence to investigators.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Tuesday that President Trump had been briefed on the allegations against Perez. She stated that Perez has been placed on unpaid leave and will no longer serve on the White House staff, ending his tenure that began in 2016.
The investigation was first reported by ABC News, and the BBC’s U.S. news partner CBS News later independently confirmed key details of the case. Sources close to the probe told reporters that Perez has been fully cooperative with CFTC investigators throughout the inquiry. As of this report, federal prosecutors in Manhattan have declined to open a criminal investigation into the matter. When reached for comment by the BBC to confirm the ongoing probe, a CFTC spokesperson said the agency could not “confirm or deny” the existence of any ongoing investigation.