Former White House Teleprompter Operator Fined $172,000 for Kalshi Insider Trading

Trump Speech Teleprompter Operator Faces CFTC Enforcement Action

A former White House teleprompter operator has been ordered to pay more than $172,000 after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission found he traded on a prediction market called Kalshi using insider access to President Trump's speeches.

Gabriel Perez read Trump's prepared remarks about an hour before they were delivered. He used that advance knowledge to place bets on what the president would say in his addresses.

Numbers at a Glance

• Perez must repay $107,539 in profits gained from his trades.
• He also owes a $65,000 civil penalty, reduced because of his cooperation with regulators.
• He is barred from trading on any CFTC-registered exchange for three years.

What the CFTC Order Says

Perez opened a Kalshi account on Dec. 8, 2025, and made trades between December 2025 and March 2026. The CFTC said he placed orders on "mention markets," which let users bet on whether specific words would appear in public speeches.

Perez did not admit or deny the agency's findings but consented to the order. The CFTC noted his "exemplary cooperation," including voluntarily sitting for an interview and accepting responsibility, which led to the roughly 40 percent reduction in his penalty.

How the Trade Activity Was Caught

KalshiEX, the exchange's surveillance unit, flagged the suspicious trading activity. Robert DeNault, Kalshi's head of enforcement, said on X that the surveillance system detected the behavior.

"It doesn't matter who you are: violate our rules or federal law and you will face the consequences," DeNault wrote.

A Pattern of Prediction Market Enforcement

This is the CFTC's second insider trading settlement involving a federal employee and Kalshi in four weeks. On July 31, former congressman George Santos agreed to pay about $35,000 over trades linked to a contract about who would attend the State of the Union address.

Both cases resulted in three-year trading bans, though the charges differed: Perez was accused of trading on insider information, while Santos was charged with manipulating a contract he had influence over.

Private-sector insiders have also faced scrutiny. In May, federal prosecutors charged Google engineer Michele Spagnuolo with using internal search data to make about $1.2 million on prediction market Polymarket. Lawmakers have similarly pressed platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket to strengthen identity verification and surveillance controls.

Why This Matters for Prediction Markets

The case highlights growing regulatory pressure on prediction markets, where users bet on real-world events such as speech word choices or political outcomes. Regulators are signaling that insider access—whether at the White House, a big tech company, or elsewhere—can trigger enforcement.

What Happens Next

Perez's three-year trading ban takes effect immediately, and his repayment obligation must be satisfied. The CFTC's proposal of a new rules framework for prediction markets under Chair Michael Selig may also shape how these platforms enforce their rules going forward.

In a separate legal development, the Ninth Circuit recently ruled against Kalshi in its dispute with Nevada gaming regulators, finding the company did not show that federal commodities law overrides the state's gambling rules—a setback for Kalshi's legal position.

Sources

• The Block