A teleprompter operator for former President Donald Trump, Gabriel Perez, has been ordered to pay $172,000 for insider trading. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced this decision on Friday night.
Perez used confidential information from his role to make trades on a prediction market. He made $107,539.02 in profits from these trades. Additionally, he is required to pay a civil penalty amounting to $65,000, according to the CFTC.
The CFTC has also banned Perez from trading on prediction markets for a period of three years. These trades were placed through the platform Kalshi, which played a role in identifying the prohibited activity.
Bobby DeNault, lead lawyer for Kalshi, stated, “A White House staffer’s prohibited trading activity was detected by Kalshi’s surveillance. Today, they faced penalties from both the CFTC and our exchange.” He emphasized that violations of rules or federal law result in consequences.
The White House has not responded to requests for comment as of Friday night. Attempts to contact Perez were also unsuccessful.
The CFTC has categorized this incident as insider trading. Perez traded in ‘presidential mention market contracts’ which predict words or phrases the president might use in speeches.
Serving as a technical assistant and teleprompter operator since 2016, Perez faced this issue due to his actions. The CFTC acknowledged his “exemplary cooperation” in their case against him.
Then-White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt labeled the trades as an ethics breach. She described the situation as “deeply unfortunate and frankly a disgrace.” After being placed on leave in July, Leavitt announced that Perez would not return to his position.