White House teleprompter operator investigated over alleged trades on Trump speeches

Federal regulators are investigating whether a White House teleprompter operator capitalized on his knowledge of President Trump's prepared speech text by making trades on the prediction market Kalshi, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

The speeches the person allegedly traded on included the State of the Union in February.

Why it matters: The rise of prediction markets has raised concerns about insider trading, which Kalshi and federal regulators say they're well positioned to combat.

Driving the news: Gabriel Perez, the teleprompter operator, is under investigation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission over the allegations that he bet on Kalshi "mention markets" using information on Trump's planned remarks," according to the sources, who were aware of the CFTC's investigation but were not authorized to speak publicly.

Perez won more than $100,000 on such trades, the sources said.

Perez has been cooperating with the investigation, one of the sources said.

The CFTC has discussed terms of a settlement with Perez, which could include him giving back profits from the trades, sources told ABC News, which was first to report the investigation.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan reportedly declined to open a criminal investigation, per ABC.

Zoom in: "Our surveillance team promptly flagged and referred these trades to the CFTC after an exchange investigation," Robert DeNault, Kalshi's head of enforcement, said in a statement to Axios. "We have been assisting regulators on this matter and provided evidence we collected, as we do in any referral."

Kalshi — which did not identify the trader to Axios — froze Perez's account after flagging his alleged bets, preventing him from capturing most of the profits, the sources said.

What they're saying: Efforts to reach Perez for comment through the White House were unsuccessful.

A CFTC spokesperson said the commission can't confirm or deny an investigation.

"The White House has strict ethics guidelines that we expect all staffers and officials to follow," White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told ABC News. "The staffer in question is fully cooperating with the CFTC." ...