Ex-White House Teleprompter Operator Fined for Prediction Market Insider Trading
A former White House teleprompter operator, Gabriel Perez, agreed to pay $172,000 to settle CFTC charges that he used advance access to presidential speeches to trade prediction-market contracts tied to words President Donald Trump would say. The CFTC said he misused confidential government information and earned more than $107,500 between December 2025 and February 2026 on “presidential mention market” contracts. Under the settlement, he must return $107,539.02, pay a $65,000 penalty, accept a three-year trading ban, and stop violating the Commodity Exchange Act. The regulator said the penalty was reduced under a new cooperation policy and credited Perez’s assistance and Kalshi’s help in the case. The action highlights insider-trading risks in fast-growing prediction markets and shows the CFTC treating event contracts as swaps subject to insider-trading rules.
