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CFTC penalties for Perez
A federal agency ordered former White House teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez to pay $172,000 after he made online prediction trades on Kalshi based on information from upcoming speeches by President Donald Trump.
“ordered to pay $172,000”
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Perez used “material, nonpublic information” he obtained through his job to place “trades” on a prediction market, and it ordered him to repay profits of $107,539.02 plus a civil penalty of $65,000.
NBC News reported that Perez was also banned from trading on prediction markets for three years, with the CFTC citing the case as insider trading involving “presidential mention market contracts.”
The CFTC said Perez traded presidential “mention market” contracts on Kalshi between December 2025 and February 2026, with event contracts paying out based on whether a president uses specific words or phrases in speeches.
Kalshi, White House responses
Kalshi’s lead lawyer Bobby DeNault said in a post on X that “A Kalshi surveillance investigation caught a White House staffer engaging in prohibited trading activity,” and he added that “It doesn’t matter who you are: violate our rules or federal law and you will face the consequences.”
NBC News reported that the White House did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment, and it said Perez could not be reached for comment.
Telemundo reported that the then press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the online trades a violation of ethics and described them as “profundamente lamentables y, francamente, una vergüenza.”
Telemundo also said Perez was suspended in July and Leavitt asserted at the time that “esta persona ya no estará aquí.”
What the case targets
The CFTC said Perez was a technical assistant to the president who had served as a teleprompter operator for Trump since 2016, and it described his conduct as trading on presidential mention market contracts tied to words or phrases in speeches.
“Perez misappropriated that information — in breach of his duty of trust and confidence”
The commission said Perez had access to presidential speeches prior to those speeches being delivered and “Perez misappropriated that information — in breach of his duty of trust and confidence,” according to a release from the commission.
Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported that the Friday settlement ordered Perez to repay his profits in full along with the $65,000 civil penalty, and it said the commission described a reduction because of his “exemplary cooperation.”
The settlement also imposed a three-year trading ban, and South China Morning Post reported that Perez made US$107,500 from bets on what Trump would say in speeches while working at the White House.