Gabriel Perez, a former teleprompter operator for Donald Trump, has settled with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission over allegations that he used advance access to presidential speech drafts to trade event contracts in prediction markets.
In a statement, the CFTC said Perez misused confidential government information by placing large bets on contracts tied to Trump’s speech content. These contracts paid out based on whether a political figure mentioned specific words or phrases in a speech.
The agency said Perez had access to prepared remarks before Trump took the stage because of his role operating the teleprompter. That gave him nonpublic information before placing trades, according to the regulator.
The CFTC said Perez made more than $107,500 from December 2025 to February 2026 by using that information advantage. As part of the settlement, he agreed to disgorge $172,000, pay a $65,000 civil monetary penalty, accept a three-year trading ban, and avoid future violations of the Commodity Exchange Act.
The regulator also said the monetary penalty was significantly reduced under its updated cooperation credit policy because Perez provided a high level of assistance during the investigation. The CFTC separately thanked Kalshi for its help in the matter.
The case adds to concerns about insider trading risks in prediction markets, where users can wager real money on real-world outcomes, including elections, sports events, and even the exact wording of political speeches. Those markets can also create opportunities for people with nonpublic information to profit from it.
The source material also cited two other recent cases. Earlier this year, a U.S. soldier was charged over alleged insider trading on Polymarket, with illicit profits of more than $400,000. In March, a video editor for YouTuber MrBeast was fired after being caught up in a Kalshi insider trading investigation.
As scrutiny has intensified, Kalshi has reviewed a large backlog of suspicious trading records and introduced new safeguards, according to the source material, in an effort to restore trust in the market.
The CFTC’s action also signals that it considers these event contracts to fall within its jurisdiction as swaps. That means prediction market participants may face the same insider trading restrictions that apply in traditional financial markets.