Gabriel Perez, a White House teleprompter operator, has been fined $172,000 by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for placing unlawful bets on President Donald Trump's speeches. The settlement, announced Friday, concludes a federal probe into Perez's activities on an online prediction market.
Regulators maintained that Perez exploited material, nonpublic information gathered through his role to place wagers on the Kalshi platform for his personal benefit. Having access to the president's speeches before they were delivered, Perez bet on specific words that would be spoken.
Through these prediction market bets, Perez made $107,500. In addition to the financial penalty, the settlement imposes a three-year trading ban. Perez had previously been placed on unpaid leave from his position at the White House.