'Producer Gets Access,' by Dana Rohrabacher - television project was at the heart of an elaborate swindle ...

'Producer Gets Access,' by Dana Rohrabacher - Los Angeles Times: "November 4, 2005 | By Greg Krikorian and Christine Hanley, Times Staff Writers

U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) used his influence to open doors in Washington for a Hollywood producer pitching a television show after the producer paid him a $23,000 option on a screenplay, records and interviews show.

Before the option deal in late 2003, Rohrabacher's script, 'Baja,' had kicked around Hollywood for so many years that its conservative protagonist had morphed from a Vietnam veteran to a soldier who had served in the Persian Gulf War. ...
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Federal authorities now allege that Medawar's television project was at the heart of an elaborate swindle in which Medawar defrauded dozens of people — many of them Orange County and South Los Angeles churchgoers — by selling $5.5 million of stock in Steeple.

Medawar, arrested last month, has pleaded not guilty to a 23-count indictment. He faces the possibility of life in prison if convicted.

Rohrabacher said Thursday in an interview that he had done nothing improper by accepting the option payment from Medawar before introducing him to congressmen and Homeland Security officials. ...