Perez (Gabriel Perez), who previously served as a teleprompter operator for U.S. President Donald Trump, is accused of using his position to gain advance access to the president’s speech script to bet on Trump’s speech content in the prediction market. Now that the matter has come to light, the implicated employee has agreed to repay $172,000 in illegal proceeds and pay a $65,000 civil penalty to reach a settlement.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said that Gabriel Perez allegedly abused confidential government information by heavily betting on contracts in the “presidential speech prediction market” related to the event. The way these contracts work is that the payout odds and bonuses are determined based on whether specific words or terms are mentioned in political figures’ speeches.

The CFTC emphasized that Gabriel Perez took advantage of his position as a speechwriter to obtain the text of his remarks before President Trump took the stage. This is tantamount to letting him place bets for sure gains, even though he already knew the cards he would be dealt ahead of time.

According to a CFTC statement, during the period from December 2025 to February 2026, Gabriel Perez profited more than $107,500 by leveraging his advantage of “information asymmetry.” As part of the settlement, he not only had to repay the full amount of the unlawful proceeds, but also pay an additional $65,000 in civil penalties, and faced a 3-year trading ban with no further violations of the (Commodity Exchange Act).

That said, the CFTC also revealed that because Gabriel Perez demonstrated excellent cooperation during the investigation, the latest “cooperation-based penalty reduction” policy was applied—so the fine was the result of a substantial discount. At the same time, the CFTC specifically singled out and thanked the prediction market Kalshi for the assistance it provided in this case.

This “embezzlement by those entrusted with authority” case involving a White House employee is, without a doubt, the most vivid lesson prediction markets face as they explode in popularity worldwide: “insider trading risk.” These platforms allow users to place bets with real money on various outcomes of real events—ranging from political elections and sporting events to the specific wording used in political figures’ speeches. However, this also opens the door for insiders who possess “non-public information” to profit.

This concern is far from unfounded. Earlier this year, a U.S. servicemember was charged for allegedly engaging in insider trading on Polymarket, with unlawful profits exceeding $400,000. In March this year, a video editor for YouTube influencer MrBeast was also fired for being involved in the Kalshi insider trading investigation.

In the face of strong outside skepticism about “insider malicious market manipulation,” Kalshi has recently been proactively clearing and reviewing large volumes of accumulated suspicious transaction records, while also rolling out brand-new protective mechanisms, aiming to rebuild market trust.

As prediction markets gradually move into the mainstream and attract massive trading volumes worth billions of dollars, regulators around the world are paying even closer attention. This enforcement action not only rang an industry alarm bell, but also sent a clear regulatory signal: the CFTC has officially classified these “event contracts” as swap agreements within its jurisdiction. This means that any participant in a prediction market in the future must strictly comply with the legal requirements that prohibit insider trading in traditional financial markets, with absolutely no gray areas.

"Sneaking a peek at the president’s speech notes to bet! White House former speechwriter involved in prediction market ‘insider trading’—hit with an effort to recoup $172,000" This article was first published on (BlockBeats).