White House Teleprompter Operator Allegedly Exploited Prediction Markets for Personal Gain
-
According to the CFTC, from December to February while working as a White House teleprompter operator, Perez made bets on Kalshi tied to words or phrases that Trump might make during his speeches. Perez’s White House role gave him access to those speeches before the president delivered them, and he “misappropriated that information” to profit, breaching “his duty of trust and confidence”, the CFTC asserted.
Compare 5 other versions
ABC News"The order finds that between December 2025 and February 2026, while working as a teleprompter operator for the White House, Perez traded presidential mention market contracts, which are event contracts reflecting words or phrases the President may use during his speeches," the CFTC said in the release. "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--to trade presidential mention market contracts, generating over $107,500 in profits."
BBC NewsAnnouncing the settlement on Friday, the CFTC said Perez had "misappropriated" his prior knowledge of Trump's speeches to place bets "in breach of his duty of trust and confidence".
The HillWhite House teleprompter operator who placed bets on Trump’s speeches ordered to pay $172K The White House teleprompter operator who placed online bets on President Trump’s speeches has been ordered to pay a total of $172,000, a federal agency said Friday. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said in a news release that Gabriel Perez must pay out his profits from trade, totaling $107,539.02, in addition to a civil…
Washington Examiner“The order finds that between December 2025 and February 2026, while working as a teleprompter operator for the White House, Perez traded presidential mention market contracts, which are event contracts reflecting words or phrases the President may use during his speeches,” The CFTC said in a statement.
NBC NewsA teleprompter operator for President Donald Trump who made online prediction trades based on information from upcoming speeches has been ordered to pay $172,000, a federal agency said Friday night.
-
Gabriel Perez exploited “material, nonpublic information” that he gathered through his work for the president in order to place wagers on the Kalshi platform “for his personal benefit”, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) maintained in a news release on Friday.
Compare 1 other version
NBC NewsGabriel Perez used “material, nonpublic information” he obtained through his job to place “trades” on a prediction market, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said in a news release.
-
The same month, the White House Management Office had sent a letter to aides telling them not to place bets on prediction markets, administration officials told the BBC's US media partner CBS News.
Compare 1 other version
ABC NewsThe White House said it has strict ethics guidelines that staffers are expected to follow. In March, the White House issued an internal memo warning staff against using nonpublic information to place bets on prediction markets, sources previously confirmed to ABC News.
5 details only one outlet reported
Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
-
01 Washington Examiner The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced on Friday that the former Trump administration staffer settled with the agency on paying back the $107,539.02 he made through his unethical prediction market bets plus an additional $65,000 civil penalty fine. The CFTC called the fine a “substantial discount” due to the staffer’s “exemplary cooperation” with the agency.
-
02 NBC News Perez was ordered to pay the money he made in profits, $107,539.02, as well as a civil penalty of $65,000.
-
03 The Guardian US The CFTC issued its news release about Perez on Friday, about a month after the White House said he no longer had his job there. It was unclear whether Perez resigned or was fired.
-
04 BBC News Perez has also been banned from trading for three years. Writing on X, Kalshi's lead lawyer Bobby DeNault welcomed the decision: "It doesn't matter who you are: violate our rules or federal law and you will face the consequences."
-
05 ABC News According to sources familiar with the investigation, Perez sat for an interview with regulators in recent months and acknowledged some of the trades. At some point during the investigation, the sources said the CFTC alerted federal prosecutors in Manhattan, who declined to open a criminal investigation.
Fact Corroboration
Which sources independently confirm the same facts. Hover a claim to see its sources, or a source to see what it corroborates.
Coverage by Perspective
Source Similarity
Connections show how similarly each outlet covered this story. Thicker lines = more similar framing.
Sources (6)
- abc
- thehill
- nbc
- guardian
- washexaminer
- bbc