Ex-White House Teleprompter Operator Fined $165,000 for Insider Betting on Speeches

Gabriel Perez, a former teleprompter operator for the White House, has agreed to a settlement with federal authorities that requires him to forfeit over $100,000 in profits and pay a $65,000 fine. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced the settlement on Friday, which also imposes a three-year ban on Perez from trading on prediction markets.

Perez was placed on unpaid leave from his White House position after it was revealed he had leveraged his access to presidential speeches to place bets on specific words and phrases that would appear in President Trump's remarks. These bets were made on the prediction market Kalshi between December 2025 and February 2026, generating profits of $107,500 for Perez.

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In his position, 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.

The CFTC found that Perez "misappropriated that information, in breach of his duty of trust and confidence." The settlement mandates the full repayment of his illicit gains. The civil penalty was reduced due to Perez's "exemplary cooperation" with the investigation. This case highlights concerns about the misuse of nonpublic information within government positions.

In response to emerging details in July, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the situation "unfortunate" and "a disgrace." The White House had previously issued a letter to aides in January 2025, warning them against placing bets on prediction markets using nonpublic information. Kalshi, the prediction market platform, had also flagged Perez's unusual trading activity through its surveillance systems, freezing his account and over $90,000 in profits before referring the case to the CFTC.

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It was unfortunate and a disgrace.