Staff Reports
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has issued a formal order finding that a longtime White House teleprompter operator used advance access to presidential speech drafts to bet on a prediction market. The man, Gabriel Perez, agreed to give up more than $107,000 in profits, pay a $65,000 civil fine, and accept a three-year ban from trading event contracts after the CFTC concluded he misused nonpublic information.
What the CFTC found
The CFTC filed its enforcement order on August 28, 2026, and called Perez’s conduct a misappropriation of material, nonpublic information. The agency ordered disgorgement of $107,539.02 and a civil penalty of $65,000, for a total of $172,539.02. Perez also must stop trading event contracts for three years. The order says the trades happened between December 2025 and February 2026 and involved “mention market” contracts that paid out if the President said specific words or phrases in public remarks. The agency credited Perez’s cooperation for a reduced penalty — which tells you cooperation helps, but it does not erase the wrongdoing.
How Kalshi’s surveillance caught the trades
The prediction-market operator Kalshi’s compliance team detected unusual trades, froze the account and the suspected funds, and referred the matter to the CFTC. Kalshi’s enforcement head reported that their surveillance “promptly flagged, investigated and referred” the activity. About $90,000 in suspected profits was frozen while regulators reviewed the trades. Prosecutors in Manhattan reviewed the matter and declined to bring criminal charges, leaving this as a civil CFTC enforcement action only.
Why this matters for prediction markets and the White House
This is not just about one staffer getting greedy. It shows a real gap where inside access meets a market that pays out on whispered words. As prediction markets grow, exchanges and regulators must block obvious insider risks and demand strong disclosures. Employers — including the White House — must also harden controls. If someone has one of the last looks at a President’s prepared remarks, the rule is simple: do your job, don’t treat drafts like a cheat code for private bets.
White House response and the bottom line
The White House called the conduct “deeply unfortunate and, frankly, a disgrace,” according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, and Perez was placed on leave and no longer works in the federal government. Good — quick, decisive action was the right move. Still, words alone don’t stop the next abuse. Regulators, exchanges and employers all deserve credit for catching this, but credit should come with fixes: clearer rules, tighter monitoring, and firmer workplace vetting. Enforcement worked here; now make it harder for insiders to treat public trust as a shortcut to private profit.
