Exclusive | Mystery California lobbyist used bogus million-dollar boasts to land taxpayer contracts

A Southern California lobbyist who interned in the Clinton administration with Monica Lewinsky has been making lofty claims to win taxpayer-funded contracts — but some of the cities and public agencies on his killer resumé say they couldn’t pick him out of a lineup.

Jaime Rojas, president of Rojas Public Affairs, has been collecting thousands in taxpayer fees from a Southern California agency after he bragged about securing tens of millions in federal funds, but officials who spoke to The California Post are increasingly worried the lobbyist’s grandiose pitches are based on lies.

“It is shocking,” Patterson City Manager Fernando Ulloa told The Post. 

Rojas spoke before the Phelan Piñon Hills Community Services District board in January 2025, touting a record of securing more than $90 million in state and federal funding. The district subsequently awarded Rojas a contract paying $5,000 per month.

But in documents submitted to that agency and others, Rojas’ firm has overstated or made up multimillion-dollar funding claims in writing while seeking taxpayer funds, including a three-year lobbying deal tied to Gypsum Canyon Memorial Park and a planned state veterans cemetery in Orange County.

In his presentation to Phelan Piñon Hills, Rojas claimed his firm had “secured $5 million in federal funds” for the city of Patterson to support infrastructure and community service projects.

“I have never heard of him or had communications with him. I don’t know who he is,” Ulloa told The Post. 

Officials from five other cities and public agencies told The California Post that Rojas — a former president of the California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and currently board member for the Los Angeles Latino Chamber of Commerce — had never worked with them, disputed the amount of funds he claimed to have delivered or said he exaggerated his role in securing the money.

Earlier this year, in a letter to the Orange County Cemetery District, Rojas submitted a proposal for a three-year contract with monthly payments of $3,425. He claimed in the letter that he had helped the city of Bishop secure $1.25 million in federal funding to upgrade a bridge.

“I don’t know what he is referring to,” Bishop City Administrator Pam Foster told The Post.

“My finance director doesn’t have it, my public works director does not know what he might be referring to — we do not have any federal money on a bridge project,” she said.

Bishop is currently paying Rojas roughly $2,500 per month, according to Foster, who said the lobbyist has yet to secure any state or federal funding for Bishop during the past year.

Rojas acknowledged in a statement after The Post began asking questions that his proposal incorrectly described the Bishop project as a bridge, saying his firm had actually worked on a $1.6 million federal funding request for public-safety equipment that was later reduced to $1.2 million and ultimately never enacted.

In that same letter to Orange County officials, Rojas made another $1.25 million claim involving the San Miguel Fire District, taking credit for $1 million in federal funding for a new fire station and another $250,000 for a fire engine.

Rojas admitted in correspondence to the Post, “Neither amount was ultimately enacted or received by the District.”

Rojas admitted that some of his proposals for taxpayer funds failed to distinguish between money that was merely requested or advanced by lawmakers and money that was actually secured.

In regards to Rojas’ claims about money secured, San Miguel Fire Chief Andy Lawler told The Post: “This is the first we’re hearing about it.”

Rojas also acknowledged that figures his firm gave to public agencies contained incorrect project descriptions or dollar amounts, while maintaining that his firm performed legitimate advocacy work on the projects.

“[Rojas Public Affairs] performed substantial federal and state advocacy work for public agencies, including … projects [that] advanced to legislative selection or inclusion in House committee funding tables,” he told The Post.

Ian Weiss, an attorney at Schlam Stone & Dolan, confirmed to The Post that federal and California law explicitly forbid people from securing taxpayer contracts under pretenses.

“Even if you did a perfectly good job lobbying under the contract, you still committed fraud because you tricked them into hiring you in the first place,” Weiss said.

Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said “it’s always incredible when people engage in what is apparently fraudulent behavior, because we do allow so much puffery in business.” 

“We allow people to exaggerate and sound better than they are, but it sounds to me like there is a good argument that this crosses the line from ‘I’m amazing’ to ‘I am a fraudster,’” Levinson said.

She added, “Frankly, based on the facts available, this looks like one of these quintessential examples of fraud that you would teach in a class on what not to do.”

Rojas also claimed to have secured $2.4 million in state funding for park restoration for the Hesperia Recreation and Park District.

“As far as Jaime Rojas getting us any money, I’m not aware of him securing any funding for us on the federal or the state side,” Hesperia board member Kelly Gregg told The Post.

“He talked a big game.”

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Rojas’ promotional materials have also claimed his firm “successfully secured $250,000 in federal funding” for community initiatives and infrastructure improvements in the city of South Gate.

“This is the first time we’ve heard his name, honestly,” Giselle Hernandez, community engagement manager for the City of South Gate, told The Post.

Among the funding victories Rojas touted while seeking the Phelan contract was $3 million in federal earmarks for water pumps and pipes at the Monte Vista Water District.

Kelley Donaldson, a community affairs manager for Monte Vista, said that claim also overstated his role.

“No, he did not get us $3 million,” Donaldson told The Post. “We have successfully gotten two earmarks totaling $2 million, and the first one was prior to him coming on board as a consultant for us. He did not assist in that application process at all.”

Donaldson called the pattern of Rojas overstating his role in securing federal funds “concerning.”

“When we vet consultants, we make sure we do our due diligence,” Donaldson said. “We have fiscal responsibility to our ratepayers. When things are being misrepresented, it is of great concern.”

Los Angeles-based political consultant Michael Trujillo said that inflating and making up achievements to win taxpayer money are the actions of “a high-end grifter.”

“Something is amiss here,” Trujillo said. “Is it too tall a tale or is he just making stuff up?

“If he’s committing fraud, then the relevant agencies should look into it. You want honest, trustworthy folks when it comes to taxpayer dollars.”