You would think so, but apparently not. (Or perhaps more accurately, "maybe, but it would be politically inconvenient to investigate.") From the article:

> In May, after the revelations about the rin trading by CVR, the senators wrote to the heads of the S.E.C., the E.P.A., and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, calling on them to investigate. But it could not have escaped the senators’ attention that two recipients of their letter—Jay Clayton and Scott Pruitt—had met with Icahn in the context of securing their jobs. The Senate Democrats cannot issue subpoenas to agencies unless they get the Republican majority to sign on—an unlikely outcome. In May, the C.F.T.C. replied to the senators’ letter: the agency would not be investigating Icahn or CVR, because rins, even though they are commodities, do not trade on a futures market, and the agency therefore had no jurisdiction to look into the matter. By this logic, the fifteen-billion-dollar market for renewable-fuel credits is not regulated by any government agency.

Insider trading laws are a series of sanctions exclusive to the equities market, about trading equities. This trade didn't involve equities.

There is nothing illegal about having an edge in the capital markets.

Even if the CFTC did "investigate", there isn't a prohibition on having "inside information" in the futures markets either... for the most part.

You have to look at the history and intent. Investing in companies is a great way to grow an economy, adding a ring of confidence by the state helps promote that so they can push that kind of investment exclusively on the population. As a result stock investing is really popular but the rules around it are extrapolated to being relevant to other capital markets only due to the similarities of trading.

Insider trading is an agency problem. You're in trouble if you have a fiduciary duty to someone else (either overtly or implied, directly or indirectly) and you take advantage of insider information to trade against their interests.

Using information only you have to trade in the market is not "insider trading" by itself; in fact, it's the only way the markets can actually function!

Insider trading laws were written for small fish. Large players are protected because, apparently, the trading they do is "public". So, the thinking goes, it is just fine if they use inside information for their deals. A guy who uses inside information in every deal is, of course, Warren Buffet. But since he is big and a long term investor, they see no problem.

It's a good question for most of the Trump administration.