Kalshi Flags Trump's Teleprompter Operator For Alleged Insider Trading (abcnews.com) 82
ABC News reports that White House teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez allegedly made more than $100,000 betting on Kalshi markets tied to what President Trump would say in speeches, using his access to prepared remarks and last-minute edits. ABC News reports: According to the sources, Kalshi alerted its regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), to the suspicious activity on its "Mentions" market, where users can bet on whether specific words, phrases or topics are uttered during a public speech. "Our surveillance team promptly flagged and referred these trades to the CFTC, and we are cooperating and assisting regulators," Kalshi's head of enforcement, Bobby DeNault, said in a statement provided to ABC News.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday afternoon, following ABC News' report, that Perez has been put on unpaid administrative leave. Leavitt said she spoke with President Trump about it, and he thought it was a "disgrace" and made the decision himself to put Perez on unpaid leave. Leavitt said she was unaware of any other White House staffers who have made such trades. "The White House has strict ethics guidelines that we expect all staffers and officials to follow," said White House spokesperson Davis Ingle when contacted by ABC News.
In addition to February's State of the Union address, sources said CFTC investigators discovered that Perez placed bets on more than a dozen Trump speeches over a three-month period, including a December primetime address, a January speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and Trump's remarks in March during a Medal of Honor ceremony.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday afternoon, following ABC News' report, that Perez has been put on unpaid administrative leave. Leavitt said she spoke with President Trump about it, and he thought it was a "disgrace" and made the decision himself to put Perez on unpaid leave. Leavitt said she was unaware of any other White House staffers who have made such trades. "The White House has strict ethics guidelines that we expect all staffers and officials to follow," said White House spokesperson Davis Ingle when contacted by ABC News.
In addition to February's State of the Union address, sources said CFTC investigators discovered that Perez placed bets on more than a dozen Trump speeches over a three-month period, including a December primetime address, a January speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and Trump's remarks in March during a Medal of Honor ceremony.
Scapegoat (Score:4, Insightful)
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I didn't take it as a scapegoat (Score:5, Insightful)
We can debate why but the evidence is as plain as they. Anyone who isn't corrupt wants nothing to do with this administration. It's all smash and grab
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Most Presidents have avoided investment portfolio changes so as to not stir suspicion. Don doesn't give a shit how it looks.
Re:I didn't take it as a scapegoat (Score:5, Insightful)
And yet Republicans will expect the Democrats to play by civility rules and procedures that they have had no intention of following themselves.
Whatever nominee for 2028 has a platform of assigning an AG like Jack Smith who promises to investigate and prosecute every one of these fuckers who has broken a law gets my vote.
And for those that haven't broken a law but if you're a judge or any other official who has played the game of refusing to answer "who won the 2020 election" get's removed from their post and barred from public service for their entire lives.
and the Democrats keep losing to these guys (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:and the Democrats keep losing to these guys (Score:5, Insightful)
No, not when one side the cheating and trying to destroy institutions and basically entrench themselves into single party rule. I mean I know 5 years ago seems like ancient history but this man and his party tried to steal an election.
I dunno if you are a Republican or not but unlike Republicans most of the Democrats understand actually governing is a responsibility but a necessary function to be treated with some degree of respect.
Treating all politics as simply a game to be won at all costs is how we end up with stories like this one we're commenting on right now. If this happened under Obama it'd be gigantic news, careers would be terminated. In 2026 under Trump 2? Nobodies surprised, it's Friday and we're on our 4th or 5th war with Iran in the past 6 months.
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I reset your mom's puss. Doesn't matter what country you're from I have an international passport to tap her ass.
Iran asking for more (Score:2)
But the bigger problem is Iran isn't negotiating with Trump. They are negotiating with the USA. The USA went back on the last deal the Iran made over nuclear fuel enrichment. The USA attacked and assassinated the Iranian leadership while the Iranians thought the USA was negotiating with them. No matter what the Iranians agree to there is nothing
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Heh, that strategy only works in Hearts AFAIK.
You still think things are normal (Score:5, Informative)
The Democrats cannot afford to lose another election. And we can't afford for them to lose another election. Every election since 2016 has been the most important election in your life and that's going to be how it is until the fascists are beaten back. They never go away but you can beat them back.
If on the other hand we don't beat them back then there's no coming back from it anymore. There's no allied powers that are going to ride in and save us from our Nazis. Once the fascists are in control of America and us that's it, it's game over. You will live and you will die in a fascist dystopian hellscape just like the people of Russia do. And you will be sent off to die in their wars just like the people of Russia
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You just want to vote for whoever will stick it to the Republicans.
You're just a larper, you don't believe anything you say, you're just playing some dumb character. You deserve no respect or actual responses.
Now go upstairs and tell your mother her dick-down is on its way, i'll be there shortly.
Sincerely your father.
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A very practical scapegoat, to get the attention off Trump's own insider trading...
Is it really insider trading if you run it as a publicly advertised for profit advanced information service? /sarcasm
It’s a disgrace (Score:5, Interesting)
Because the operator made $100k and not trump.
Re:It’s a disgrace (Score:5, Insightful)
If he would have kicked up, we wouldn't even be hearing about this right now.
The corruption runs from the President all the way down to the guy who scrolls his speeches for him.
Who can blame him? (Score:5, Insightful)
He comes to work in the White House every day and sees all these grifters using their office to make themselves rich, especially the guy he's showing the teleprompter to, and he asks himself "Why not me too?".
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Alas, he got caught and drew attention to himself and his grifter boss.
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Since when is getting caught any issue for this administration?
Re:Who can blame him? (Score:5, Insightful)
It's not. This guy's fatal mistake was not realizing that he's not important enough to merit protection while getting in on the action.
The plebs aren't supposed to benefit, only the oligarchs.
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Trading on Knowable Information (Score:3)
Maybe this whole thing is a stupid idea. Knowledge of company internals is reasonable to police, any foreknowledge of just about anything not so much.
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will attempt to
And that's exact a subset of the problem I am calling out.
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If it's legal for Congress it should be legal for everyone. Politicians just want to keep the grift for themselves.
Re:Trading on Knowable Information (Score:5, Interesting)
These platforms are starting to let people bet on wildfire activity. What a fun way of incentivizing arsonists.
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Maybe this whole thing is a stupid idea.
And unless you are the insider, why would you bet on it, knowing there are 'insiders' who are likely betting against you?
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You seem to think that being a gambling addict and being irredeemably stupid are mutually exclusive, when they are rather complementary to each other.
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Maybe this whole thing is a stupid idea. Knowledge of company internals is reasonable to police, any foreknowledge of just about anything not so much.
Kalshi is regulated by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission. Trading on material non-public information (MNPI) on Kalshi is illegal. The End.
Re: Trading on Knowable Information (Score:2)
Why are we bothering to regulate something that can't be reasonably practically regulated? Open betting on anything and everything, but people need to have been sufficiently uninformed to have made the bet "fair"?
It's like banning knowing what you're talking about. We do it for businesses because there are fundamental economic mechanics that come from collectivized investment and market price discovery, and the fairness of information release has legally prescribed mechanics (e.g., quarterly reports).
What
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There's a difference between knowing what you're talking about, and knowing what's going to happen before everyone else does.
As for Kalshi's economic utility, that's certainly debatable, but I'd argue that it resembles the utility of the options and futures markets. (After all, the options and futures markets are regulated by the same body that regulates Kalshi.) These markets deal mostly in risk. Some people want it, others don't.
Take, for example, a farmer who needs money to plant crops to be harvested la
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Pardon a correction: options are regulated by the SEC, not the CFTC. Other bodies are involved, including FINRA which enforces trading practices, and the OCC which clears trades.
But my point stands about the options and futures markets trading on risk.
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Found the guy who thinks that everything must provide economic utility / social value, etc.
What does a sports book offer in those categories?
Hint: gambling is parasitic in nature.
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He was placing bets on the speeches he had advance text of, because he's loading the text into the machine the guy giving the speech will read it off of.
You don't find a problem with that?
Re: Trading on Knowable Information (Score:2)
My biggest issue is Kalshi, it's a gambling platform. It's like getting pissed off at someone that bought drugs on the Silk Road and acting like it's eBay.
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Typical MAGA thinking... (Score:5, Insightful)
"The White House has strict ethics guidelines that we expect all staffers and officials to follow," said White House spokesperson Davis Ingle when contacted by ABC News.
Because rules are for little unimportant peons like Perez. The orange guy and his immediate minions are above such restrictions.
Re:Typical MAGA thinking... (Score:5, Interesting)
Dude, we're well into the "loot the treasury" phase of late-stage democracy. Pretty much everyone in a position of power is looting everything that isn't nailed down, which is why the reaction to the left shrieking "MUH TRUMP IS GRIFTING!" is just "yeah, whatever."
Re: Typical MAGA thinking... (Score:2)
Capitalism, not democracy.
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Late-stage democracy will always end with the elected leaders looting everything they can. Because why wouldn't they? No-one is going to stop them and they may only have a few years to loot before they get voted out.
Sure, it's a problem that oligarchs can just buy politicians, but that's a feature of democracy, not a feature of capitalism. Kings usually won't sell out their country because they own it and want to keep it. Elected politicians are just renters and don't care what happens to the country after
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Late-stage democracy will always end with the elected leaders looting everything they can. Because why wouldn't they? No-one is going to stop them and they may only have a few years to loot before they get voted out.
This is not a feature of democracy - it's the loss of democracy. This is not a subtle distinction. I also hope you understand that your examples of "kings" is one where this king has *already* raided the treasury, which is the whole point of the monarchy, as they own everything and you simply get the scraps they allow you to have. If they are protective of their people at all it is by happenstance and not by design. Like the subject says...
Re:Typical MAGA thinking... (Score:4, Insightful)
Dude, we're well into the "loot the treasury" phase of late-stage democracy. Pretty much everyone in a position of power is looting everything that isn't nailed down, which is why the reaction to the left shrieking "MUH TRUMP IS GRIFTING!" is just "yeah, whatever."
Dude, "loot the treasury" wasn't a thing until about 18 months ago. Just because the cult members excuse the orange god emperor of any wrongdoing doesn't mean we have to accept that.
Was there grift happening before the orange guy showed up? I'd be surprised if it weren't, but his arrival opened the floodgates. They aren't ignoring the nailed-down stuff either, since they're using crowbars now.
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The national debt jumping from 1 trillion to 2 trillion to 8 trillion to 30 trillion is the literal looting of the treasury. It has been happening for a very long time now. This side-corruption bullshit is minor in comparison, but it is more vulgar.
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Their whole ethical system is built around the idea of a natural order and actor (rather than action) based morality. This person acted above their station and did things that people of their place in the world are not supposed to do. In a way, he stole from trump and his community by taking their natural right for their own.
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You don't get high-trust behaviour in a low-trust society. And you don't get a high-trust society when you import tens of millions of low-trust people and put them in positions of power.
Political grift is the norm in most of the world and governments have imported it into the West en masse. People in low-trust countries don't go into politics for the good of their country, they go into politics to make their family and tribe rich.
Re:Typical MAGA thinking... (Score:4, Insightful)
import tens of millions of low-trust people and put them in positions of power.
I don't think there's evidence of either of these statements.
People in low-trust countries don't go into politics for the good of their country, they go into politics to make their family and tribe rich.
They say on yet another story about the current admin of homegrown Americans getting into politics to make their family and tribe rich. Not immigrants but an entire group of people who want you to focus on immigrants while they pick your pockets clean.
Good job totally not falling for bottom of the barrel identity politics and jingoism though :/
Re:Typical MAGA thinking... (Score:4, Insightful)
You're claiming that Western countries haven't imported millions of low-trust people and haven't put low-trust people in positions of power? Are you living in a VR simulation of the 1980s or something?
Yes. I'm not even gonna dig into the minefield of bad faith that the word of "imported" is I am saying there's no evidence for "tens of millions" (unless you are just saying ALL immigration) as well as "put in positions of power". Give me your #1 example of a "low trust person put into position of power"
"Homegrown Americans" often now come from low-trust immigration. Somalians, Haitians, Irish and Italians can now be "homegrown Americans."
Yes, welcome to the glory that is America!
Whatever you think is boomer of whatever doesn't change the fact that the people actually doing what you describe, the graft and low trust behavior, are not "imported low trust people" at all so I think your entire premise here is deeply flawed and rooted in pseudo-white-nationalism talking points.
He placed bets ? (Score:3)
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"CFTC investigators discovered that Perez placed bets"
Oh, so it is a unlicensed betting site.
That depends. If you're hoping to win, then it's betting, or investing. If you're hoping to lose, then it's hedging -- you're taking out a position against the outcome you're hoping for, as insurance.
And it's not exactly "unlicensed." Kalshi is regulated by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission.
Dude "forgot" to pay Trump (Score:2)
That's gonna cost him, if he knows what's good for him.
strict ethics guidelines (Score:5, Funny)
> The White House has strict ethics guidelines that we expect all staffers and officials to follow
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Good one.
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Why are you laughing. The guidelines are quite clear. According to the YOB ethics rules, someone must now "donate" appropriate money to a YOB "charity" and a suitable pardon will be issued.
So did anyone see the video about the YOB saying what a great freeloader he is? Certainly not working for the US since he doesn't accept any of the salary. The particular video I saw then did the math on the YOB's charity compared to people who haven't pocketed billions of dollars recently. Turned out the presidential sal
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> The White House has strict ethics guidelines that we expect all staffers and officials to follow
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Good one.
The guideline in question is "Gotta kick up to the big guy". If you don't pay your "taxes", you're gonna have a bad day. And, no, I'm not talking about the IRS.
should not be allowed to take bets on that at all! (Score:2)
should not be allowed to take bets on that at all!
Insider trading markets (Score:3)
Pension plan (Score:4, Interesting)
Dude's crime wasn't playing the inside, it was getting caught while not having enough dirt on the boss to make him care.
When you work for a mob boss... (Score:2, Interesting)
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You also have to remember your place in the world. Acting above your station and taking actions that are reserved for higher ups is a social threat.
Tip of the Ice Berg (Score:2)
Disgraceful (Score:1)
I guess if anyone knows disgraceful it would be Donald Trump.
The Daily Show finds fatal flaw with this scheme (Score:2, Troll)
Betting on what Trump is going to say, even with the exact teleprompter text, is an iffy bet.
From ‘Daily Show’ Finds Fatal Flaw in Trump Aide’s Teleprompter Scheme [thedailybeast.com]
“I know people are going to say it’s cheating if he knows what words are in the prompter, but with Trump, that’s not a sure thing,” explained the Daily Show anchor [Michael Kosta]. “For example, let’s say he puts a bet down that Trump is going to read the word 'magnificent' in a speech..."
Kosta panned to footage of the president attempting to pronounce that word in remarks about the proposed golden arch in front of the Arlington Cemetery. Instead, Trump pronounced the word as “magnici” and, eventually, decided to give up and used the phrase “really beautiful.”
Wrong app dude! (Score:5, Interesting)
The DOJ already had a meeting with Polymarket to tell them to stop flagging those loyal to the administration. Maybe Kalshi did not get the memo, or Perez didn't get the memo to use Polymarket to avoid legal repercussions.
Let's back up a step (Score:3)
"The White House has strict ethics guidelines" (Score:2)
Lol
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Surprised no one noticed the guy's surname (Score:2)
Wow (Score:2)
3...2...1... (Score:2)
Guess who's getting a pardon! And probably a medal of freedom as well.
Grifting is a privilege, not a right (Score:2)
Katie Johnson (Score:2)
After Trump apologizes for raping 13-year-old Katie Johnson, I'll be more inclined to care what his moral compass tells him about insider trading.