A White House teleprompter operator made more than $100,000 on Kalshi bets related to public speeches made by President Trump, two sources familiar with the matter told CBS News.

The sources identified the federal employee as Gabriel Perez.

A Kalshi spokesperson 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 more than $90,000 in 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 the agency "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 the source familiar with the matter.

Perez did not immediately respond to CBS News' request for comment. ABC News was the first to report on the investigation into Perez.

The White House Management Office sent a letter to White House aides on March 24 telling them not to place bets on prediction markets with nonpublic information, multiple administration officials told CBS News in April.

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 at the direction of Mr. Trump.

The president "believes it's deeply unfortunate and frankly a disgrace, and the individual that was cited in that report is complying with the CFTC but has been put on [unpaid] administrative leave," she said.

Public records on LegiStorm, a database with biographical information on government staffers, show Perez has worked for the Trump administration during the president's first and second terms, during which he's held roles as a technical adviser and teleprompter operator. In January 2025, he started as a technical adviser for the White House Office, records show.

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