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- According to an ABC News report, a White House teleprompter won $100,000 on Kalshi betting on President Donald J. Trump (R) speeches
- Gabriel Perez, described as a longtime teleprompter operator for Trump, allegedly used insider information to profit off speeches
- Sources told ABC News that Perez used his insider knowledge of the president’s speeches to win thousands on Kalshi’s platform
A longtime White House teleprompter for President Donald J. Trump (R) allegedly profited more than $100,000 by using insider information and placing bets on prediction market platforms on the president’s speeches, according to an ABC News report.
ABC News today reported Gabriel Perez, a technical assistant to Trump who has been operating his teleprompter since 2016, placed thousands of dollars in bets through Kalshi on what the president would say in more than a dozen speeches this year.
Kalshi allegedly alerted the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) of suspicious activity on its “mentions” market, which allows users to place bets on certain words or phrases public figures will use in speeches.
Kalshi Acknowledges ABC News Report
After ABC News released its report, Robert J. Denault, head of enforcement for Kalshi, reported the company’s surveillance team flagged, investigated, and referred the suspicious activity to the CFTC.
“The Kalshi surveillance team promptly flagged, investigated and referred these trades to the CFTC. We have been assisting regulators on this matter and provided all evidence that we collected, as we do with any referral,” he said.
ABC News reported Perez placed bets on Trump’s February State of the Union address and more than a dozen speeches over a three-month period, including a December primetime address to the nation.
“The White House has strict ethics guidelines that we expect all staffers and officials to follow,” said White House spokesperson Davis Ingle when contacted by ABC News. “The staffer in question is fully cooperating with the CFTC.”
According to ABC News, Perez was interviewed by regulators and acknowledged some of the trades.
Banning Insider Trading on Government Actions
Several members of the federal government have introduced bills this year to prohibit the user of insider information to profit off of government actions on prediction market platforms.
Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced the “End Prediction Market Corruption Act,” a bill to ban the President, Vice President, members of Congress, and other top-federal election official from trading event contracts.
The introduced bill came in March after large payouts came from prediction markets stemming from U.S. strikes on Iran and Venezuela military actions.
“When public officials use non-public information to win a bet, you have the perfect recipe to undermine the public’s belief that government officials are working for the public good, not for their own personal profits,” Merkley said in a released statement. “Perfectly timed bets on prediction markets have the unmistakable stench of corruption. To protect the public interest, Congress must step up and pass my End Prediction Market Corruption Act to crack down on this bad bet for democracy.”
The bill sponsors pointed to several recent large payouts through prediction market contracts stemming from U.S. military action. According to the Wall Street Journal, a mystery trader profited $400,000 on Polymarket betting on Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro’s ousting just several hours before the U.S. took action against the country.
Additionally, NPR reported a user named “Magamyman” profited $553,000 placing bets on Polymarket regarding Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatolla Ali Khamenei, hours before an Israeli air strike killed him last week.
The trades drew criticism, with members of Congress decrying potential insider trading on the platforms.