Former Congressman Anthony Weiner defended legislators’ ability to trade stocks during a fiery back-and-forth on “The Adam Friedland Show.”
The disgraced lawmaker has been out of the public eye since he was sentenced to prison for sending illicit text messages to a minor. Though Weiner hasn’t worked on Capitol Hill for more than a decade, he still felt the need to defend his colleagues when Friedland made a remark about former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s apparent success trading stocks.
“Every f**king piece of legislation is incredibly public, and anyone who’s investing based on pieces of legislation is not going to do very well,” Weiner said.
Friedland pressed Weiner on whether investing in companies that could be affected by pending legislation might constitute a conflict of interest. The one-time New York representative said he did not, leading to an incredulous outburst from the host.
“What the f**k are you talking about?” Friedland asked.
“Because every f**king piece of legislation is incredibly public and anyone who’s investing based on pieces of legislation is not going to do very well,” Weiner argued.
Weiner—currently attempting another political comeback by running for New York City Council—accused Friedland of having a “bumper sticker” and “wafer-thin” knowledge of politics.
“If you want to say that rich people become members of Congress, bounce off other rich people, have information and investment opportunities that normal Mrs. Krapaluci doesn’t have, 100% right,” he said. “But it has nothing to do with the work of Congress, with being in a committee and saying, hmm, this line 17 here, which no one can read, says that we’re going to start investing in AI, I’m going to go invest in AI. That’s bullshit.”
The two men also traded thoughts on Weiner’s scandals and his role in Donald Trump’s 2016 election victory. Weiner argued that the firestorm surrounding his explicit messages and photos, sent to multiple women and once accidentally posted to social media, might not have caused such a stir in 2025.
He pushed back against the idea that he bears partial responsibility for Trump’s victory. Then-FBI Director James Comey reopened an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server after finding related material on Weiner’s laptop.
“The butterfly effect was not me, it was Comey—it was what Comey did with that,” Weiner said. “My point is, he could’ve had it for six months and held onto it. It was weeks. It was not that close to the election.”
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