A White House teleprompter operator allegedly made nearly $100,000 on bets placed on Kalshi related to President Trump’s State of the Union and other speeches.
CBS News has confirmed the identity of the federal employee as Gabriel Perez.
A spokesperson for Kalshi said the company investigated Perez’s trading activity after its surveillance systems detected trades that didn’t adhere to typical buying and selling patterns. Kalshi froze Perez’s account, locking almost all of the profits he made on the platform, the spokesperson confirmed.
After completing its investigation, Kalshi referred the case to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the federal agency that regulates prediction markets. The Kalshi spokesperson said the company has been working with the CFTC for months.
“Our surveillance team promptly flagged and referred these trades to the CFTC after an exchange investigation,” Robert DeNault, head of enforcement at Kalshi, said in an email to CBS News. “We have been assisting regulators on this matter and provided evidence we collected, as we do in any referral.”
A CFTC spokesperson told CBS News they “can’t confirm or deny an investigation.”
Perez was betting on so-called mention markets, which allow traders to place wagers on certain words or phrases people might say during public events.
He has been “fully cooperative” with the CFTC and is currently in talks with agency regulators for a potential settlement, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Speaking to reporters Thursday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Perez has been placed on unpaid leave.
Mr. Trump “believes it’s deeply unfortunate and frankly a disgrace, and the individual that was cited in that report is complying with the CFTCÂ but has been put on [unpaid] administrative leave,” she said.