A Southern California lobbyist who interned within the Clinton administration with Monica Lewinsky has been making lofty claims to win taxpayer-funded contracts — however a few of the cities and public businesses on his killer resumé say they couldn’t decide him out of a lineup.
Jaime Rojas, president of Rojas Public Affairs, has been amassing hundreds in taxpayer charges from a Southern California company after he bragged about securing tens of hundreds of thousands in federal funds, however officers who spoke to The California Publish are more and more apprehensive the lobbyist’s grandiose pitches are primarily based on lies.
“It’s stunning,” Patterson Metropolis Supervisor Fernando Ulloa instructed The Publish.
Rojas spoke earlier than the Phelan Piñon Hills Neighborhood Providers District board in January 2025, touting a report of securing greater than $90 million in state and federal funding. The district subsequently awarded Rojas a contract paying $5,000 per thirty days.
However in paperwork submitted to that company and others, Rojas’ agency has overstated or made up multimillion-dollar funding claims in writing whereas in search of taxpayer funds, together with a three-year lobbying deal tied to Gypsum Canyon Memorial Park and a deliberate state veterans cemetery in Orange County.
In his presentation to Phelan Piñon Hills, Rojas claimed his agency had “secured $5 million in federal funds” for town of Patterson to assist infrastructure and group service initiatives.
“I’ve by no means heard of him or had communications with him. I don’t know who he’s,” Ulloa instructed The Publish.
Officers from 5 different cities and public businesses instructed The California Publish that Rojas — a former president of the California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and at the moment board member for the Los Angeles Latino Chamber of Commerce — had by no means labored with them, disputed the quantity of funds he claimed to have delivered or mentioned he exaggerated his function in securing the cash.
Earlier this yr, in a letter to the Orange County Cemetery District, Rojas submitted a proposal for a three-year contract with month-to-month funds of $3,425. He claimed within the letter that he had helped town of Bishop safe $1.25 million in federal funding to improve a bridge.
“I don’t know what he’s referring to,” Bishop Metropolis Administrator Pam Foster instructed The Publish.
“My finance director doesn’t have it, my public works director doesn’t know what he is perhaps referring to — we wouldn’t have any federal cash on a bridge venture,” she mentioned.
Bishop is at the moment paying Rojas roughly $2,500 per thirty days, in line with Foster, who mentioned the lobbyist has but to safe any state or federal funding for Bishop through the previous yr.
Rojas acknowledged in an announcement after The Publish started asking questions that his proposal incorrectly described the Bishop venture as a bridge, saying his agency had truly labored on a $1.6 million federal funding request for public-safety tools that was later diminished to $1.2 million and in the end by no means enacted.
In that very same letter to Orange County officers, Rojas made one other $1.25 million declare involving the San Miguel Fireplace District, taking credit score for $1 million in federal funding for a brand new hearth station and one other $250,000 for a fireplace engine.
Rojas admitted in correspondence to the Publish, “Neither quantity was in the end enacted or acquired by the District.”
Rojas admitted that a few of his proposals for taxpayer funds failed to differentiate between cash that was merely requested or superior by lawmakers and cash that was truly secured.
With regard to Rojas’ claims about cash secured, San Miguel Fireplace Chief Andy Lawler instructed The Publish: “That is the primary we’re listening to about it.”
Rojas additionally acknowledged that figures his agency gave to public businesses contained incorrect venture descriptions or greenback quantities, whereas sustaining that his agency carried out reliable advocacy work on the initiatives.
“[Rojas Public Affairs] carried out substantial federal and state advocacy work for public businesses, together with … initiatives [that] superior to legislative choice or inclusion in Home committee funding tables,” he instructed The Publish.
Ian Weiss, an legal professional at Schlam Stone & Dolan, confirmed to The Publish that federal and California legislation explicitly forbid folks from securing taxpayer contracts beneath pretenses.
“Even should you did a wonderfully good job lobbying beneath the contract, you continue to dedicated fraud since you tricked them into hiring you within the first place,” Weiss mentioned.
Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Regulation College in Los Angeles, mentioned “it’s all the time unbelievable when folks interact in what is seemingly fraudulent conduct, as a result of we do enable a lot puffery in enterprise.”
“We enable folks to magnify and sound higher than they’re, however it sounds to me like there’s a good argument that this crosses the road from ‘I’m superb’ to ‘I’m a fraudster,’” Levinson mentioned.
She added, “Frankly, primarily based on the info out there, this appears to be like like certainly one of these quintessential examples of fraud that you’d educate in a category on what to not do.”
Rojas additionally claimed to have secured $2.4 million in state funding for park restoration for the Hesperia Recreation and Park District.
“So far as Jaime Rojas getting us any cash, I’m not conscious of him securing any funding for us on the federal or the state aspect,” Hesperia board member Kelly Gregg instructed The Publish.
“He talked an enormous sport.”
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Rojas’ promotional supplies have additionally claimed his agency “efficiently secured $250,000 in federal funding” for group initiatives and infrastructure enhancements within the metropolis of South Gate.
“That is the primary time we’ve heard his title, truthfully,” Giselle Hernandez, group engagement supervisor for the Metropolis of South Gate, instructed The Publish.
Among the many funding victories Rojas touted whereas in search of the Phelan contract was $3 million in federal earmarks for water pumps and pipes on the Monte Vista Water District.
Kelley Donaldson, a group affairs supervisor for Monte Vista, mentioned that declare additionally overstated his function.
“No, he didn’t get us $3 million,” Donaldson instructed The Publish. “We now have efficiently gotten two earmarks totaling $2 million, and the primary one was previous to him approaching board as a advisor for us. He didn’t help in that utility course of in any respect.”
Donaldson referred to as the sample of Rojas overstating his function in securing federal funds “regarding.”
“Once we vet consultants, we be sure that we do our due diligence,” Donaldson mentioned. “We now have fiscal duty to our ratepayers. When issues are being misrepresented, it’s of nice concern.”
Los Angeles-based political advisor Michael Trujillo mentioned that inflating and making up achievements to win taxpayer cash are the actions of “a high-end grifter.”
“One thing is amiss right here,” Trujillo mentioned. “Is it too tall a story or is he simply making stuff up?
“If he’s committing fraud, then the related businesses ought to look into it. You need trustworthy, reliable of us with regards to taxpayer {dollars}.”
