Gabriel Perez, a longtime White House teleprompter operator, has been ordered to pay 172.539 USD following a Commodity Futures Trading Commission investigation into insider trading on Kalshi prediction markets. Perez used advance knowledge of presidential speeches to bet on specific words and phrases, violating federal rules between December 2025 and February 2026.
A federal regulatory settlement has brought down a former White House staffer who turned the presidential teleprompter into a personal financial instrument. Gabriel Perez, who had worked as a teleprompter operator for Donald Trump since his initial presidential campaign in 2016, agreed to forfeit profits and pay civil penalties after federal investigators discovered he placed online prediction trades based on upcoming remarks.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced the enforcement action, revealing that Perez utilized his position of trust to profit from presidential speeches before they were delivered to the public. The case highlights mounting scrutiny over prediction markets and government ethics as officials target individuals who exploit sensitive, nonpublic information for personal gain.
The Mechanics of the Teleprompter Trades on Kalshi
Working as a technical assistant to the president, Perez occupied a unique vantage point in the administration. As the operator managing the teleprompter equipment during presidential addresses, he was consistently among the last individuals to review speech texts and any last-minute edits made by the president himself.
Between December 2025 and February 2026, Perez weaponized that access on Kalshi, a prediction market platform where users buy and sell event contracts based on real-world outcomes. Specifically, Perez targeted presidential mention market contracts. These specialized financial instruments allow traders to wager on whether a public figure will utter specific words or phrases during a public address.
His insider wagers spanned several high-profile addresses, including a December primetime speech, February’s State of the Union address, and a Medal of Honor ceremony in March.
Because the president is known to occasionally improvise—going off script during public appearances—Perez adapted his trading strategy in real time. When monitoring speeches where remarks diverged from the prepared text, Perez recognized that scripted words would remain unsaid and actively backed out of vulnerable positions.
Regulatory Penalties, Fines, and Kalshi’s Surveillance Detection
Under the terms of the settlement finalized by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Perez faces a total financial penalty of 172.539 USD. This amount breaks down into the complete forfeiture of his trading proceeds alongside an additional civil penalty.
The regulatory order mandates that Perez repay $107,539.02 in profits generated through the illicit trades, alongside a civil penalty of $65,000. Furthermore, the agency imposed a strict three-year ban prohibiting him from participating in prediction markets.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan elected not to pursue criminal charges in the matter. The financial penalty was also substantially reduced from what it otherwise might have been. The regulatory body explicitly credited Perez for what it described as his exemplary cooperation during the inquiry.
The illicit trading activity came to light not through federal wiretaps, but via internal exchange oversight. Bobby DeNault, Kalshi’s lead lawyer and head of enforcement, detailed how the mechanism was uncovered.
Bobby DeNault, Kalshi’s lead lawyer, stated that a surveillance investigation by Kalshi caught a White House staffer engaging in prohibited trading activity, and added that today this individual was subjected to penalties by the CFTC and by their exchange.
DeNault added a stern warning regarding market integrity, stating that it doesn’t matter who you are: violate federal law or platform rules, and consequences will follow. Kalshi officials confirmed that the platform’s automated controls successfully froze the illicit profits before Perez had the opportunity to withdraw them from his account.
White House Fallout and Broader Ethics Crackdown
The scandal triggered swift administrative action within the executive branch. Perez was initially placed on administrative leave and subsequently removed from his post after the insider trading allegations surfaced publicly.
White House officials condemned the actions without hesitation. Then-White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt characterized the online trades as a clear breach of professional ethics, calling the situation deeply unfortunate and a disgrace.
The administration had previously moved to preempt such conflicts. In March, the White House distributed an explicit memorandum warning government employees that misusing nonpublic information for financial gain violates ethics standards, specifically calling out prediction platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket by name.
Perez’s case arrives amid an intensifying wave of federal oversight targeting prediction market manipulation and insider trading. Earlier in the year, federal regulators brought similar actions against individuals exploiting sensitive government data, including a service member who utilized classified details to wager on geopolitical events and a tech employee tracking search metrics.
With bipartisan congressional pressure mounting on regulatory agencies to police prediction markets, lawmakers continue to push for tighter restrictions to eliminate financial corruption among government personnel. Whether federal watchdogs can successfully enforce these boundaries across fast-growing prediction platforms remains the central test for regulators in the months ahead.
Keep reading
- 73-Year-Old Man Found Dead Inside His Home in Poggiridenti, Italy
- Raleigh Food Lion Sells $1.1 Million Jackpot Winning Lottery Ticket
- $900 million from a canceled wind deal will benefit a Trump donor (archyworldys.com)
- Trump Rules Out Russian Attack on NATO Territory After CIA Visit (world-today-news.com)
