Photo by Lance Cpl. Cristian RicardoA former White House teleprompter operator who enjoyed advance access to President Donald Trump’s prepared speeches has been ordered to surrender more than $107,000 in trading profits and pay an additional $65,000 civil penalty.The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced Friday that Gabriel Perez must pay a total of $172,539.02 after the agency found he exploited material, nonpublic information obtained through his federal government employment.Perez was also slapped with a three-year trading ban and ordered to cease and desist from further violations of federal commodities laws.According to the CFTC’s official announcement, Perez traded so-called “presidential mention market contracts” on the prediction platform Kalshi.These contracts allowed users to bet “Yes” or “No” on whether President Trump would utter particular words or phrases during public speeches.Perez had one enormous advantage over ordinary traders: He operated the president’s teleprompter and could review Trump’s prepared remarks before they were delivered.The CFTC found that Perez used that privileged access “in breach of his duty of trust and confidence” to generate $107,539.02 in profits.The agency’s detailed settlement order reveals that Perez typically received access to President Trump’s speeches approximately one hour before the president took the stage.He then allegedly placed “Yes” wagers when he saw that a targeted word appeared in the prepared remarks and “No” wagers when the word was absent.According to federal regulators, Perez traded in 14 separate Trump mention markets and made profitable trades on 39 of the 43 contracts he purchased.The markets covered Trump speeches and appearances in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Iowa and Georgia, along with the president’s address to the World Economic Forum, the National Prayer Breakfast, the State of the Union and a Medal of Honor ceremony.On one occasion, Perez even changed his trading position after observing that President Trump had deviated from the prepared text or skipped the portion containing a word Perez had bet would be mentioned.In other words, Perez was allegedly attempting to adjust his wagers in real time as President Trump went off script.Perez began working as Trump’s teleprompter operator during the 2016 presidential campaign. He later joined the first Trump administration in 2018 as a special assistant to the president and technical adviser.As an executive branch employee, Perez was subject to federal ethics standards prohibiting government employees from using nonpublic information for private financial gain.Perez settled the administrative case without admitting the CFTC’s findings or legal conclusions.The $65,000 civil penalty represented what regulators described as a substantial discount because of Perez’s “exemplary cooperation” with the investigation. He must also return every dollar of the $107,539.02 in profits identified by the agency.The CFTC thanked KalshiEX for assisting investigators.As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, Kalshi’s surveillance team flagged Perez’s unusual trading activity and referred the matter to federal regulators.The Gateway Pundit reported in July that Perez had allegedly wagered on more than a dozen Trump speeches and was accused of backing out of certain bets while the president was still speaking.White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed at the time that President Trump had personally been briefed on the allegations.“He believes it’s deeply unfortunate and, frankly, a disgrace,” Leavitt said.Perez was subsequently placed on unpaid administrative leave. He is no longer employed by the federal government, although officials have not publicly stated whether he resigned or was fired, according to ABC News.The Trump White House did not attempt to protect Perez once the allegations surfaced. He was removed from his duties, cooperated with regulators and is now being forced to surrender his profits, pay a substantial penalty and remain out of federally regulated trading markets for three years.The post Former Trump Teleprompter Operator Ordered to Pay Nearly $173,000 After Using Advance Access to President’s Speeches to Make Profitable Bets — Hit with Three-Year Trading Ban appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.