The person who operated the teleprompter for President Donald Trump has been put on unpaid leave amid an insider trading probe, the White House confirmed on Thursday.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump was aware of a news report that broke the story, and she had spoken to him about it.
“He believes it’s deeply unfortunate and frankly a disgrace,” Leavitt said at a press conference.
Leavitt said the teleprompter operator was complying with the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission and has been put on unpaid administrative leave. She said there would be another person working the teleprompter later Thursday evening during Trump’s nationally televised speech.
ABC News reported that Gabriel Perez, a technical assistant who has operated Trump’s teleprompter since 2016, was under investigation for using his insider knowledge to make more than $100,000. ABC News stated that Kalshi, a U.S.-based and government-regulated betting exchange for real-world events, reported suspicious activity to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
“The White House has extremely strict ethical guidelines with respect to issues like this, and as I just told you, this individual will no longer be here,” Leavitt told reporters. “The administrative leave is unpaid. To be very clear, that was a decision by the president. So I think that speaks for itself.”
Kalshi’s website allows people to bet on certain phrases a politician may use during a speech.
For example, ahead of Trump’s Speech to the Nation on July 16, Kalshi offered contracts on words like “oil,” “hottest,” and “alien.”
Traders buy Yes or No shares on whether Trump says the exact word (or a minor variation) during the speech.
Kalshi announced in June it was implementing a series of upgrades to combat market manipulation, including risk scoring, employment verification requirements, and expanded whistleblower reporting tools.
The company said the changes are based on recommendations from its independent Surveillance Audit Committee.
In April, U.S. soldier Gannon Ken Van Dyke was charged with unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain after he allegedly made $400,000 betting on Polymarket, a prediction marketplace, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Van Dyke used sensitive classified information to make wagers about the U.S. military operation to capture Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, called “Operation Absolute Resolve,” in which he was involved, according to the DOJ.
That same month, Kalshi fined and suspended three congressional candidates after the politicians were accused of placing bets on their own elections.
