TLDR Senators Elizabeth Warren and Jeff Merkley sent a letter to White House Counsel Will Scharf. They want to know if other White House employees used inside information to place bets or trades. The CFTC ordered teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez to pay more than $172,000 in August. Perez allegedly read Trump’s prepared remarks early and bet on Kalshi mention markets. Warren will lead the Senate Banking Committee after Democrats won both chambers in the midterms.
Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Jeff Merkley want to know if more White House staff used inside information to bet on prediction markets. They made the request in a letter to White House Counsel Will Scharf.
The letter follows a case involving Gabriel Perez, the White House teleprompter operator. Regulators say he used early access to President Donald Trump’s speeches to place bets.
The senators said the White House has failed to take “meaningful action to address ethics concerns.” They asked how the administration is responding to the allegations.
What the Senators Want to Know
Warren and Merkley asked whether any other employees “misappropriated insider knowledge to place any bets, trades, purchase contracts, or taken any similar action for personal gain.” The question covers staff beyond Perez.
They also asked whether White House staff receive training on how to handle nonpublic information. The senators want to know what rules are in place today.
The lawmakers said sending a warning memo is not enough. They pointed to steps taken by other administrations, including mandatory training for staff.
The senators said more action is needed from the President, from Scharf and from other White House officials. They said this is required to give the public confidence in the integrity of the federal government under Trump.
The letter described the case as tied to the