Reps. Torres And Moulton Introduce Bill To Ban Campaign Staff From Insider Trading On Political Prediction Markets

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressmen Ritchie Torres (NY-15) and Seth Moulton (MA-6) introduced the Campaign Event Contract Integrity Act, legislation that would close a glaring loophole allowing campaign insiders to profit off confidential information in political prediction markets.

Under current law, nothing clearly prohibits a campaign pollster, strategist, or consultant from logging onto a prediction market exchange and trading based on internal polling data, unreleased fundraising numbers, or candidate announcement plans that are not publicly available. The Campaign Event Contract Integrity Act would prohibit covered campaign-affiliated individuals, including campaign staff, consultants, pollsters, data analysts, media consultants, and fundraisers, from trading political event contracts while in possession of material nonpublic campaign information. It also bans tipping that information to third parties for trading purposes and bars the use of proxies to evade the law.

Bill text is attached as a PDF.

“A campaign pollster sitting on internal numbers that could massively move a prediction market is no different from a corporate insider trading on earnings reports before they go public,” said Rep. Torres. “The law has always recognized that kind of advantage as a form of theft from everyone else, and it is time we applied that same standard to campaign operatives.”

“Elected officials and the campaigns they run should be motivated by service to their country and their community, not by personal profit,” said Rep. Moulton. “Unfortunately, this legislation remains necessary because our politics are under threat from special interests and political insiders who seek to boost their bottom line at the expense of the American people. I’m proud that my teams have banned self-participation in prediction markets already, and hope many more of my colleagues in Congress will follow suit soon.”

The legislation also requires covered prediction market platforms to implement compliance systems designed to detect and prevent prohibited trading, monitor suspicious activity, maintain investigative records, and report violations to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Traders above certain thresholds would be required to disclose campaign affiliations or access to nonpublic campaign information. The CFTC would be empowered to investigate violations and impose civil penalties of up to $250,000 or three times any profits gained, disgorgement of ill-gotten proceeds, and trading bans. The bill preserves lawful political analysis, journalism, academic research, and trading based solely on publicly available information.

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