White House condemns staffer accused of betting on Trump speech as a 'disgrace'

Source: msn.com


Story by Stephen Sorace • 6h


The White House on Thursday condemned as "a disgrace" a Trump administration teleprompter operator accused of betting on President Donald Trump's speeches, saying he has been placed on paid administrative leave amid a federal investigation.

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"Obviously, I'm aware of the report. The president is, too. I spoke with him about it," Leavitt said. "He believes it's deeply unfortunate and, frankly, a disgrace."

Leavitt said the employee has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the investigation and confirmed a different teleprompter operator would handle Trump's speech Thursday evening.



ABC News first reported that federal investigators with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission found a White House staffer — identified by sources as Gabriel Perez, Trump's teleprompter operator since 2016 — allegedly made tens of thousands of dollars by betting on the contents of Trump's speeches through the prediction market Kalshi................


Kalshi said the trades stood out because they did not follow typical trading patterns and also drew complaints from market makers through the platform's whistleblower channels. After reviewing account information, the company said it identified the trader as a federal employee who worked as a White House teleprompter operator..........................



Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/white-house-condemns-staffer-accused-of-betting-on-trump-speech-as-a-disgrace/ar-AA285iQO?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=47c7282227e048d5c6dc5b014b46c8d2&ei=21&cvpid=780c03d9bc7f4d60ef8caad3f1a421e9

Kalshi said the markets involved common words and topics expected to appear in presidential speeches — including country names, economic terms, campaign language and social issues — rather than classified or otherwise sensitive information.

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