Federal Employee Exits Government Amid Kalshi Bets on Trump Speeches

Gabriel Perez, a federal employee accused of profiting from wagers placed on President Donald Trump’s speeches, is no longer employed by the federal government.

The departure follows scrutiny over trades executed on Kalshi, a financial exchange that allows participants to trade event contracts based on real-world political and economic outcomes. Perez allegedly used non-public information concerning the timing, structure, or content of speeches delivered by Donald Trump to position himself advantageously in specific event contract markets.

Kalshi operates as a regulated exchange overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The platform lists binary options contracts tied to high-profile political events, including whether public officials will mention specific terms, phrases, or topics during formal addresses. While retail traders speculate on these outcomes using publicly available data, government personnel are restricted from exploiting insider knowledge.

Federal law and executive branch ethics rules, including principles embedded in the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, strictly forbid public servants from turning official duties or advance policy material into private financial gain. Possessing early draft access or scheduled updates regarding presidential remarks creates significant regulatory and legal exposure when paired with financial markets.

The growth of political prediction market platforms like Kalshi has intensified debate among federal regulators regarding insider trading mechanisms outside traditional equity and commodities markets. Unlike conventional stock transactions, event contracts directly track policy statements and public utterances, raising new compliance challenges for government staff with direct or indirect access to executive communications.