The man who operated President Donald Trump’s teleprompter for more than a decade has been placed on unpaid administrative leave after being accused of winning more than $100,000 from betting on the content of the president’s speeches.
Gabriel “Gabe” Perez, a technical assistant to the president, is in talks with federal regulators to settle allegations that he used his inside knowledge to place bets and win on Kalshi, ABC News reported first.
Sources told ABC News that Kalshi alerted the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, an independent agency that regulates futures, swaps and bets, to suspicious activity on its “Mentions” market – where users can bet on specific words, phrases or topics used during speeches.
Perez operated Trump’s teleprompter during the State of the Union and placed bets on more than a dozen speeches over a three-month time span, ABC News reported.
The Independent has asked Kalshi for comment.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Thursday that Perez was put on unpaid administrative leave and is currently complying with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Leavitt said the president found the situation “Deeply unfortunate and frankly a disgrace.”
Trump will have a different teleprompter operator for his big speech on election integrity Thursday evening, Leavitt said.
Among the alleged bets Perez placed on Trump speeches were the president’s December primetime address, a January speech at the World Economic Forum and remarks in March during a Medal of Honor ceremony.
Perez was hired as a teleprompter operator by Trump’s team in 2016 when the president was running for office for the first time.
Members of the Trump campaign reportedly Googled “teleprompters” and found Perez through VIP Prompting, according to the book “Let Trump Be Trump” by former Trump campaign managers Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie.
Lewandowski and Bossie both recounted that Perez “made the device user friendly for the boss” and “became a whiz at breaking down and setting up the teleprompter,” Politico reported in 2020.
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