CFTC orders White House aide to surrender $107,539 in market profits

The CFTC found that White House teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez traded on advance access to presidential speeches. The settled administrative order requires Perez to surrender $107,539.02 in prediction-market profits. The order requires Perez to pay a $65,000 civil monetary penalty. The order requires Perez to cease and desist from further violations. The order imposes a three-year trading ban. The CFTC said Perez's exemplary cooperation substantially reduced the penalty. The cited materials describe a civil regulatory settlement and do not report a criminal conviction. The CFTC found that Perez traded presidential mention-market contracts between December 2025 and February 2026. The contracts settled on whether the President would use particular words or phrases during speeches. Perez saw the speeches before delivery, according to the order. The CFTC said Perez misappropriated material nonpublic information in breach of a duty of trust and confidence. The CFTC release credited KalshiEX with assistance and did not announce charges against the exchange. Robert DeNault, Kalshi's enforcement head, said the exchange promptly flagged, investigated and referred the trades to the CFTC. The CFTC did not disclose the timing of Kalshi's review or referral. A February CFTC advisory says designated contract markets have independent duties to maintain audit trails, conduct surveillance and enforce rules against prohibited practices. The CFTC retains authority to investigate and prosecute illegal trading. In June, Kalshi announced risk scoring for markets with heightened insider or manipulation risk. Kalshi also announced employment verification for some participants and expanded whistleblower tools. Those measures came after Perez's December 2025 to February 2026 trading period. Available sources do not establish whether the measures would have blocked Perez's activity. The record does not establish that Kalshi's safeguards were timely or sufficient to prevent the trades.