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Sen. Warren, Merkley raise ethics concerns over Trump aide’s prediction market bets
参议员Warren、Merkley就特朗普助手的预测市场下注提出道德担忧
Sen. Warren's demand puts the White House in a bind over whether to discipline staff prediction-market betting or side with Trump allies pushing looser crypto betting rules, leaving Polymarket users to absorb the cost.
Judgment
White House Counsel Will Scharf must decide whether to answer Warren and Merkley’s information demands or defend the administration’s light-touch ethics review, a choice that carries political cost either way and leaves prediction-market users exposed to rule changes.
Basis
Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Jeff Merkley sent a letter to White House Counsel Will Scharf demanding information on how the White House is responding to allegations that its teleprompter operator, Gabriel Perez, used advance knowledge of Trump’s prepared remarks to bet on Kalshi mention markets. In August, the CFTC ordered Perez to pay more than $172,000. The senators asked whether other employees misappropriated insider knowledge for bets or trades and whether training on nonpublic information is available. Warren is set to lead the Senate Banking Committee after Democrats won control of Congress, and Rep. Ro Khanna separately called for a ban on sports prediction markets. The mechanism: the White House’s ethics response and congressional oversight will shape how prediction-market insider-trading rules are enforced, with users bearing the cost of tighter or looser rules.
Unclear The source does not say whether Perez admitted or denied the allegations, nor whether the White House has any mandatory training program in place.
Next Watch whether Scharf provides a written response to the Warren-Merkley letter and whether it includes any records of mandatory ethics training for White House staff.