Former White House Teleprompter Operator Fined for Insider Trading on Prediction Markets
A former White House teleprompter operator, Gabriel Perez, has agreed to pay $172,000 in fines and disgorge over $107,500 in profits after using insider knowledge of upcoming presidential speeches to trade on prediction markets. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) found that between December 2025 and February 2026, Perez exploited his access to confidential speech content to bet on contracts tied to specific words or phrases President Donald Trump would use. The case highlights the growing regulatory concerns around prediction markets like Kalshi, where users can wager real money based on political events. The CFTC emphasized that event contracts are subject to insider-trading rules and fall under its jurisdiction as swaps. This incident follows similar cases involving a U.S. soldier and a MrBeast video editor accused of exploiting nonpublic information for financial gain.
Topics: commodity futures trading commission (CFTC) prediction markets white house staff misconduct