CFTC settles case over White House worker's trading of presidential mention contracts
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said it settled charges against Gabriel Perez over trades tied to presidential mentions in speeches.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Thursday that it settled charges against Gabriel Perez, a former White House teleprompter operator, over trades in presidential mention event contracts on a prediction market platform.
According to the agency, Perez misappropriated material, nonpublic information from his federal government work and used it for his own trading. The CFTC said the trades involved advance access to presidential speeches and contracts tied to the words or phrases the president might use during remarks.
The order says the conduct took place between December 2025 and February 2026, while Perez was working as a teleprompter operator for the White House. The CFTC said he had access to presidential speeches before they were delivered and traded presidential mention market contracts on that basis.
The agency said the trading produced more than $107,500 in profits. Under the order, Perez must disgorge $107,539.02 and pay a $65,000 civil monetary penalty. The CFTC said the penalty reflects a substantial discount under the Division of Enforcement’s new cooperation advisory because Perez cooperated with the agency.
The order also requires Perez to stop violating the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations. It imposes a three-year trading ban.
The CFTC said it appreciated the assistance of KalshiEX in the matter.
Prediction markets allow users to trade contracts tied to the outcome of real-world events. In this case, the CFTC described the contracts as event contracts reflecting words or phrases the president may use during speeches.
The commission said the settlement was announced on Aug. 28, 2026.
Sources
Editorial note: This article was prepared with AI assistance and includes source attribution for reader review.
View the Web StoryA visual, tap-through version of this reportThis is the AMP version of the article. Read the full article on Atlas Watchline.