National News

Teleprompter operator accused of betting on Trump speeches is out of a job

AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

By AAMER MADHANI Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A White House teleprompter operator who was put on unpaid leave after news reports he had used inside knowledge to make bets about President Donald Trump's speeches on the online prediction market Kalshi is no longer in his post, according to a White House official.

The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly about the personnel matter and spoke on condition of anonymity, said on Tuesday that teleprompter operator, Gabriel Perez, "no longer works in the federal government." The official would not say whether he resigned or was fired.

The White House confirmed earlier this month that Perez had been placed on unpaid leave after ABC News reported he had used his inside knowledge to win more than $100,000 betting on what the president would say in big speeches, including the State of the Union address earlier this year.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had described the reports of the insider trading as "deeply unfortunate and, frankly, a disgrace."

Robert Denault, Kalshi's lawyer and head of enforcement, said on X following the ABC News report that the "Kalshi surveillance team promptly flagged, investigated and referred these trades" to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission that has regulatory authority over such matters.

His statement did not name Perez.

The ABC report described suspicious activity on Kalshi's "Mentions" market, in which users can place bets on what phrases and specific words might be used in public speeches. Kalshi recently began requiring users to disclose their place of employment, and the platform's policy prohibits betting based on information that users gain because of their job.

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Associated Press writer Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.