A former White House teleprompter operator, Gabriel Perez, has been ordered to surrender over $100,000 in profits and pay a $65,000 fine to settle allegations of insider trading on the prediction market Kalshi. The settlement, announced by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday, also bars Perez from trading for three years.
Perez reportedly used his access to presidential speeches before they were delivered to make bets on specific words and phrases President Donald Trump would utter. The CFTC found that Perez profited $107,500 by placing these bets on prediction markets between December 2025 and February 2026. The commission stated that Perez "misappropriated that information — in breach of his duty of trust and confidence."
The former operator was ordered to repay his full profits. The civil penalty was reduced due to Perez's "exemplary cooperation" with the investigation. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt previously described the situation as "unfortunate" and "a disgrace" when details first emerged on July 16. A White House official stated in July that Perez was no longer employed in his position, though it was not specified whether he resigned or was terminated.