White House Teleprompter Operator Fined for Prediction Market Trading
White House teleprompter operator fined $172,000 for trading on advance speech access.
Event / Security
White House Insider Trading Scandal
White House teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez ordered to pay $172,000 for insider trading on prediction markets using advance access to presidential speeches.
2 reported locations
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2026-08-29 to 2026-11-07 · UTC publication dates
Coverage begins 29 Aug, 20:30 UTC
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What happened
White House teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez ordered to pay $172,000 for insider trading
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission ordered Gabriel Perez, a White House teleprompter operator, to forfeit $107,539.02 in profits from insider trading and pay a $65,000 civil monetary penalty, totaling $172,000. Perez also received a three-year trading ban. The CFTC found that between December 2025 and February 2026, Perez used nonpublic access to presidential speeches to trade event contracts on prediction markets, generating over $107,500 in profits. The penalty was reduced as a substantial discount due to Perez's exemplary cooperation with regulators.
White House placed on unpaid administrative leave after insider trading disclosure
Gabriel Perez was placed on unpaid administrative leave from his position as a White House teleprompter operator following reports of insider trading. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that President Trump decided to remove Perez from his position, describing the matter as 'deeply unfortunate and frankly a disgrace.' A White House official later confirmed Perez was no longer in his position but did not specify whether he was fired or resigned.
Gabriel Perez placed bets on Trump speeches using advance access
Gabriel Perez, while employed as a White House teleprompter operator, exploited his access to presidential speeches before delivery to trade presidential mention market contracts on Kalshi prediction markets. He bet on specific words and phrases that would appear in Trump's speeches over a three-month period from December 2025 to February 2026, including Trump's February State of the Union address, December primetime address, January World Economic Forum speech in Davos, and March Medal of Honor ceremony remarks.
CFTC declined criminal referral; Manhattan federal prosecutors did not open investigation
During the investigation into Gabriel Perez's insider trading activities, the CFTC alerted federal prosecutors in Manhattan. The federal prosecutors declined to open a criminal investigation, resulting in resolution through civil regulatory proceedings only.
Kalshi prediction market detected suspicious trading and referred case to CFTC
Kalshi's surveillance systems detected trading activity that did not adhere to typical buying and selling patterns from Gabriel Perez's account. The platform froze Perez's account with over $90,000 in profits locked. After completing its investigation, Kalshi referred the case to the CFTC and worked with regulators for months on the investigation.
Gabriel Perez employed as White House teleprompter since 2016
Gabriel Perez served as a technical assistant and teleprompter operator for President Trump since his 2016 presidential campaign through his second term. Public records on LegiStorm showed Perez worked for the Trump administration during both terms, holding roles as a technical adviser and teleprompter operator. In January 2025, he officially started as a technical adviser for the White House Office.
White House issued ethics memo warning staff against prediction market bets
In March 2026, the White House Management Office sent a memo to White House aides instructing them not to place bets on prediction markets using nonpublic information. The memo represented a formal ethics guideline against the type of activity that Gabriel Perez later engaged in.
Kalshi updated employment disclosure policies following incident
In June 2026, Kalshi prediction market updated its policies to require users to disclose their place of employment, establishing a mechanism to identify users with access to nonpublic information through government positions.
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