Trump's teleprompter operator fined $172,000 over insider trading on speeches
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Trump's teleprompter operator fined $172,000 over insider trading on speeches")
Representative image. Photograph: (Magnific)
The CFTC said Perez was directed to pay the money he made in profits, $107,539.02, along with a civil penalty of $65,000. He has also been barred from trading on prediction markets for the next three years.
A teleprompter operator who worked for President Donald Trump has been directed to pay $172,000 after using details from upcoming speeches to make trades on a prediction market, a federal agency said Friday night. According to several media reports, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said Gabriel Perez used “material, nonpublic information” gained through his job to place “trades” on a prediction market,
The CFTC stated that Perez was directed to pay the money he made in profits, $107,539.02, along with a civil penalty of $65,000. He has also been barred from trading on prediction markets for the next three years.
The trades were made through Kalshi, which the CFTC noted cooperated with the investigation. “A Kalshi surveillance investigation caught a White House staffer engaging in prohibited trading activity. Today this individual was subjected to penalties by the CFTC and by our exchange,” Bobby DeNault, Kalshi’s lead lawyer, said in a post on social media platform X.
“It doesn’t matter who you are: violate our rules or federal law, and you will face the consequences,” he also said, adding that the White House did not respond to an email seeking comment on Friday night. Calling it a case of insider trading, CFTC added that Perez traded presidential mention market contracts, reflecting words or phrases the President may use during his speeches.
Exemplary cooperation
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Perez worked as a technical assistant to the president, having handled teleprompter duties for Trump since 2016. When announcing the fine and penalties on Friday, the CFTC pointed to what it described as Perez's "exemplary cooperation" throughout the case.
Back in July, then-White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt condemned the online trading as an ethical violation, calling it deeply unfortunate and outright disgraceful. Perez was put on leave that same month, with Leavitt indicating at the time that he would no longer remain in his position.
