A veteran White House staffer is under federal investigation following allegations that he utilized inside knowledge of presidential remarks to win a massive financial payout on a popular online prediction platform.

According to ABC News, Gabriel Perez, a technical assistant to the president who has operated Donald Trump’s teleprompter since the 2016 campaign, is in talks with federal regulators to settle allegations that he won more than $100,000 by wagering on the contents of the president’s speeches. 

The trades were allegedly placed on Kalshi, a regulated prediction market that features a “Mentions” market, allowing users to bet on whether specific words, phrases, or topics are spoken during public addresses.

Investigators say the bets weren’t just lucky guesses

Investigators with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) discovered that Perez placed bets on more than a dozen Trump speeches over three months. These reportedly included a December primetime address, a January speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the State of the Union address in February, and remarks during a March Medal of Honor ceremony.

Investigators also found instances in which Perez allegedly backed out of certain bets while speeches were still underway after Trump deviated from his prepared remarks and skipped words Perez had wagered would be mentioned.

The unusual activity was caught by Kalshi’s own internal surveillance systems. “Our surveillance team promptly flagged and referred these trades to the CFTC, and we are cooperating and assisting regulators,” Kalshi’s lead lawyer, Bobby DeNault, said in a statement.

Kalshi maintains strict guidelines prohibiting employees or others with access to nonpublic information from using it to profit through trades. Later in March, the White House also issued an internal memo explicitly warning staff against using nonpublic information to place bets on prediction markets. The reminder came as the administration has faced other behind-the-scenes challenges involving White House personnel.

When contacted regarding the ongoing probe, the White House did not move to fire or suspend the technical assistant. The administration’s response comes as White House officials have also been forced to address other controversies involving the president.

White House spokesperson Davis Ingle stated, “The White House has strict ethics guidelines that we expect all staffers and officials to follow. The staffer in question is fully cooperating with the CFTC.” Despite the active investigation, Perez continues to serve as one of Trump’s teleprompter operators.

Perez has reportedly sat for an interview with regulators in recent months and acknowledged some of the trades. CFTC regulators have expressed a willingness to settle the matter and have discussed terms that would require Perez to give back his trading profits and refrain from making similar trades in the future.

While the CFTC alerted federal prosecutors in Manhattan to the case during the course of their investigation, those prosecutors ultimately declined to open a criminal investigation.

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