A White House teleprompter operator who was put on unpaid leave after news reports that he had used inside knowledge to make bets about Donald Trump's speeches on an online prediction market is no longer in his post.
The teleprompter operator, Gabriel Perez, “no longer works in the federal government," according to an official speaking to the Associated Press who was not authorised to comment publicly about the personnel matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The official would not say whether he resigned or was fired.
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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 US$100,000 through Kalshi 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 US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which 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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