Boy, California Republicans Sure Are Stupid

[StoneGold]

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-hollywood24sep24,1,918814.story?coll=la-headlines-california&ctrack=1&cset=true
I mean, everyone knows the liberal communist Jew run media would never let a show like this air. Only a GOP leader could be that gullible.

[Dee3]

I couldn't get to the article but what do you expect from our repubicans. They are idiots and my sis used to work for them.

[StoneGold]

Stupid LA Times website.


In May 2003, a dapper self-described financial strategist from Century City embarked on what he promised investors would be a riveting television series based on the newly created U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Saying his drama had the blessing of President Bush and others in Washington, D.C., Joseph M. Medawar quickly found plenty of backers for the show — one that he promised would be followed by a reality-based series titled "Fighting Terrorism Together."

But on Friday, in an ending that might have been foretold by anyone with a healthy skepticism of the Hollywood pitch, Medawar was arrested by FBI and IRS agents on charges that he bilked at least 70 investors — many of them from local churches — out of more than $5.5 million. Virtually all of the money, according to authorities, went to a lavish lifestyle that included luxury cars, shopping sprees, fancy dinners and $40,000-a-month in rent for a Beverly Hills mansion.

So persuasive was Medawar, 43, that he not only won over dozens of investors but persuaded some of the state's prominent Republicans that his Homeland Security series deserved their support. They included U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of Huntington Beach and businessman Mario Rodriguez, who was the Western regional director of Bush's reelection campaign and was listed on the show's website as a producer until a few months ago.



And here's the lawmaker part.

Rohrabacher, who represents California's 46th Congressional District, acknowledged that he put Medawar in touch with at least five other members of Congress, including Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach), who was then head of the White House's Homeland Security Advisory Council. Cox is now head of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Rohrabacher said he and Cox dined with Medawar at a Washington restaurant to discuss the different agencies within the Homeland Security Department. Medawar and members of his production team made several return trips, and Rohrabacher helped get them access to representatives at several federal law enforcement agencies.

"He's been involved with film projects in the past. So he had the credentials. And he had a great idea," Rohrbacher said.

Rohrabacher denied helping Medawar gain access to the president or the White House, saying the claim is "ridiculous." But Rohrabacher said he told Medawar and his crew that if "they do a good job, I would make sure the president saw their pilot movie."

About a year ago, Rohrbacher said, he and others who had agreed to help backed away from the project, believing that it wasn't going anywhere and that "Joe exaggerated a lot of things."

Rohrabacher received a $2,000 campaign donation from Medawar two years ago but said his assistance was not a political favor.

Rodriguez and Rohrabacher said they were introduced to Medawar during a party at the Beverly Hills home of Arthur M. Kassel, who is well known for his Hollywood connections and fundraising efforts for law enforcement. Kassel was listed as a co-producer of "D.H.S: the series" on one of Medawar's websites, http://www.dhstheseries.tv .

Kassel is a senior advisor to Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, a captain in the Orange County Sheriff's Department reserve program and chief of security services for the California Department of Mental Health.

An Orange County sheriff's official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the show filmed segments about two years ago at the department's headquarters building in Santa Ana and the Emergency Communications Bureau in eastern Orange County. The shoot entourage included Medawar, an actress and an actor, said the official, who could not recall further details.

"Art Kassel had all the law enforcement contacts Medawar needed. He knows the police and sheriff's around here a lot more than I do," Rohrabacher said. "Art was one of the ones who backed away too."

Kassel could not be reached for comment Friday.

Medawar faces 25 years in prison if convicted on the charges of mail fraud and obstruction of justice for allegedly providing false documents to the FBI during its investigation.

[Noah Johnson]

[singing "I Wanna Be a Producer" and giggling]