Trump speech betting allegations have pulled a little known White House aide into a federal ethics storm.
A longtime White House teleprompter operator has been placed on unpaid administrative leave after allegations that he used inside knowledge of President Donald Trump’s speeches to make more than 100,000 dollars through prediction market trades.
Gabriel Perez, a technical assistant to the president, has operated Trump’s teleprompter since 2016, according to ABC News. Federal investigators with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have been reviewing whether he used nonpublic speech information to profit from trades tied to Trump’s prepared remarks.
The allegations center on trades linked to whether certain words or topics would appear in public speeches. The case has raised new questions about insider information, White House ethics, and the fast growing world of political prediction markets.
White House Says Perez Was Put on Leave
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that Perez was placed on unpaid administrative leave after ABC News reported the allegations.
Leavitt said she spoke with Trump about the matter and said the president called it a disgrace. She also said she was not aware of any other White House staffers making similar trades.
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told ABC News that the White House has strict ethics rules that staffers and officials must follow.
ABC News reported that Perez is in talks with federal regulators to settle the allegations. You can read ABC’s report here: ABC News report on the White House teleprompter operator.
How the Trades Were Flagged
ABC News reported that the company operating the prediction market alerted the CFTC after its surveillance team flagged suspicious activity.
The trades involved public speeches by Trump over a three month period, including a December primetime address, a January speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, and a March Medal of Honor ceremony, according to ABC News.
Reuters also reported that Perez is under federal investigation over possible insider trading tied to Trump speech related trades. You can read the Reuters report here: Reuters report on the CFTC probe.
Why His Role Mattered
Perez’s role gave him unusual access to Trump’s prepared remarks.
According to ABC News, Perez often had final eyes on the president’s prepared speeches and could receive last minute edits. That access may have given him information that ordinary users did not have.
The allegations do not claim that Trump knew about the trades. The White House has said it expects staff to follow ethics rules.
Trump often goes off script during speeches, which may have complicated some of the trades. ABC News reported that investigators found cases where Perez allegedly backed out of trades during speeches when Trump skipped sections of prepared remarks.
Federal Regulators Are Involved
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulates certain U.S. derivatives markets and has oversight of some prediction market contracts.
A CFTC spokesperson declined to comment to ABC News. The agency’s official role and market oversight work can be reviewed through the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
ABC News reported that federal prosecutors in Manhattan were alerted but declined to open a criminal investigation.
Regulators have discussed a possible settlement that could require Perez to give back profits and avoid similar trading in the future, according to sources cited by ABC News.
White House Memo Warned Staff
ABC News previously reported that the White House issued an internal memo in March warning staff not to use nonpublic information for prediction market trades.
That memo came after investigators had already begun looking at suspicious activity, according to sources cited by ABC News.
The timing has added pressure on the administration to show that it takes insider information rules seriously.
A Bigger Warning About Insider Information
The case reaches beyond one staffer.
It shows how access to government information can create personal profit risks when new financial platforms allow users to wager on political events, speeches, and public actions.
Supporters of prediction markets argue they can reveal public expectations about future events. Critics argue they can create dangerous incentives when insiders have access to private information.
For the White House, the issue is now both legal and political. A staffer with access to the president’s words allegedly turned that access into private winnings, and the fallout has placed ethics rules back in the spotlight.
The investigation is still ongoing, and Perez has not been charged with a crime. But the allegations have already triggered unpaid leave, federal scrutiny, and new questions about how government staff should handle sensitive information in the age of political markets.