<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Gabriel Perez, a former White House teleprompter staffer, has been fined $172,539.02 after being charged with using privileged information to place bets on prediction markets.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced on Friday that Perez settled with the agency, agreeing to pay back $107,539.02 in profits from his prediction market bets, along with a $65,000 civil penalty. The CFTC described the fine as a “substantial discount” due to Perez’s “exemplary cooperation” during the investigation.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Perez was placed on unpaid administrative leave in mid-July and subsequently suspended after an ABC report revealed he had earned over $100,000 by betting on specific words that President Donald Trump would use in his speeches.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated in mid-July that Trump considered the situation “deeply unfortunate and frankly a disgrace.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The CFTC detailed the findings of Perez’s case, which includes a three-year trading ban. According to the CFTC, between December 2025 and February 2026, while serving as a teleprompter operator, Perez traded on presidential mention market contracts, which reflect words or phrases the President may use during speeches.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The CFTC stated, “In his position, Perez had access to presidential speeches prior to those speeches being delivered and misappropriated that information—in breach of his duty of trust and confidence—to trade presidential mention market contracts, generating over $107,500 in profits.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Perez began his role as a teleprompter staffer for Trump in 2016.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">This case is one of several insider trading incidents involving federal employees this year, including a case involving U.S. Army soldier Gannon Ken Van Dyke, who was charged with using classified information to place prediction market bets related to the capture of former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.</p>