But it turns out that from the moment he left public view, the man who had relied on a government paycheck his entire adult life was consumed by a corporate career whose profits and progress came to him, by his own account, with remarkable ease.
Mr. Weiner, a Democrat who once loudly championed a government-run health care option, a totem of big-government liberalism, now employs the language of a grizzled Wall Streeter, dropping references to “energy plays” and “monthly retainers.”
During an interview, he proudly declared that “I am a good capitalist.”
As he weighs whether to leap into the race for mayor this year, Mr. Weiner’s lucrative stint in business could serve as a compelling campaign credential, blunting efforts to portray him as a career politician, even as it raises uncomfortable questions about the speed with which he cashed in on his government connections.
He and his wife, Huma Abedin, a longtime aide to Hillary Rodham Clinton, disclosed last week that they had a combined income of $496,000 in 2012, most of it from Mr. Weiner’s work.
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