Ex-White House teleprompter operator fined $172,000 for Trump speech bets

Key Points:

• Gabriel Perez, a former White House teleprompter operator, was fined $172,000 by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for using inside information from his job to place bets on Donald Trump's speeches on the Kalshi prediction market platform.
• Perez exploited nonpublic details about Trump's upcoming speeches to make wagers, earning over $107,000 in profits, which he was ordered to disgorge alongside a $65,000 civil penalty and a three-year trading ban.
• The CFTC highlighted Perez's cooperation during the investigation, resulting in a reduced penalty, and Perez agreed to cease further violations of market manipulation laws and regulations.
• Perez left his White House position amid the investigation, with reports indicating he was put on unpaid leave before his departure; the White House condemned the insider trading as "deeply unfortunate and, frankly, a disgrace."
• This case underscores growing concerns over insider trading in online prediction markets, with similar incidents involving other individuals betting on political events, and Trump has publicly supported regulation of such markets by the CFTC rather than individual states.