Politics

Former White House teleprompter operator ordered to pay $172,000 in prediction market settlement

Gabriel Perez agreed to forfeit profits and pay a civil penalty after using advance access to presidential speeches to bet on specific words.

Updated Aug 29, 2026 · 04:18 UTC3 reports

The short version

Former White House teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez agreed to forfeit over $107,000 in profits, pay a $65,000 civil penalty, and accept a three-year trading ban in a CFTC settlement.
Federal regulators found Perez used advance knowledge of President Donald Trump's speeches to place insider bets on the prediction market platform Kalshi between December 2025 and February 2026.
Kalshi flagged the unusual activity using its internal surveillance systems, froze Perez's account, and referred the case to federal authorities.
Perez was previously placed on unpaid leave and subsequently left his position at the White House.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced a settlement requiring Gabriel Perez to forfeit $107,500 in profits and pay a $65,000 fine for insider trading.[Associated Press · CBS News · NBC News]
The CFTC imposed a three-year ban preventing Perez from trading on prediction markets.[Associated Press · CBS News · NBC News]
Perez used nonpublic information obtained through his White House job to bet on specific words and phrases President Trump would use during speeches.[Associated Press · CBS News · NBC News]
Kalshi's internal surveillance identified unusual trading patterns, froze Perez's account locking over $90,000 in profits, and referred the case to the CFTC.[CBS News · NBC News]
The CFTC stated that Perez's civil penalty was reduced due to his exemplary cooperation with the investigation.[Associated Press · CBS News · NBC News]
Perez worked as a teleprompter operator and technical adviser for the White House Office.[CBS News · NBC News]

It remains unspecified whether Perez formally resigned from his White House role or was officially terminated.[Associated Press · CBS News]