The CFTC fined Gabriel Perez $172,539 and barred him from trading for three years.
Why it matters: The case shows how nonpublic access to presidential speech drafts can create compliance risk in event-driven trading. It also puts a regulatory spotlight on prediction markets tied to political speech.
- The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Gabriel Perez, a former White House teleprompter operator, used advance access to presidential speeches for personal trading.
- The agency said the trades ran from December 2025 through February 2026, and the order was announced Aug. 28, 2026.
- Perez must disgorge $107,539.02 and pay a $65,000 civil penalty, for a total of $172,539.
- The CFTC order did not name the platform; AP, CBS News and Reuters identified it as Kalshi.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Gabriel Perez misused nonpublic information from his White House job to trade contracts tied to whether President Trump would use certain words or phrases in speeches. The agency said Perez had advance access to the speeches and used that information in breach of his duty of trust and confidence.
The CFTC order, announced Aug. 28, 2026, said the trading took place from December 2025 through February 2026 while Perez worked as a teleprompter operator. It ordered him to disgorge $107,539.02 and pay a $65,000 civil penalty, and imposed a three-year trading ban. The agency said the penalty reflected exemplary cooperation and a substantial discount under its new cooperation advisory. Read the CFTC order.
The order did not name the platform. AP identified it as Kalshi in its report, while AP, CBS News and Reuters all identified Kalshi as the venue after reporting on the case.
By the numbers
- $107,539.02 - profit Perez must disgorge
- $65,000 - civil penalty imposed by the CFTC
- 3 years - trading ban ordered by the agency
Yes, but: The CFTC order names Perez and the conduct, but not the platform; that identification comes from AP, CBS News and Reuters.