White House teleprompter investigated over alleged prediction market bets

A longtime aide allegedly placed bets on more than a dozen of Donald Trump’s speeches.

US.- A technical assistant who has operated Donald Trump’s teleprompter since 2016 has been put on leave amid allegations that he used inside knowledge of the president’s speeches to win more than $100,000 on the prediction market Kalshi.

ABC News reported Gabriel Perez that is suspected on placing bets on more than a dozen Trump speeches over a three-month period on Kalshi’s “Mentions” market, which allows wagers on whether specific words, phrases or topics are uttered during public addresses, according to sources.

Investigators with the CFTC examined the activity after Kalshi flagged suspicious trades and found he bet on speeches including the February State of the Union address, a primetime address in December, a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January and remarks at a Medal of Honour ceremony in March.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Perez has been placed on unpaid administrative leave. White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said: “The White House has strict ethics guidelines that we expect all staffers and officials to follow.”

Kalshi’s head of enforcement, Bobby DeNault, said the company’s surveillance team “promptly flagged and referred these trades to the CFTC, and we are cooperating and assisting regulators.”