Lobbyist bitten by old 'Scorpion,' too

Abramoff carved post-Hollywood niche in D.C.

By PAMELA MCCLINTOCK

Right about now, Jack Abramoff might be wishing he was as unsuccessful at throwing money around the Beltway as he was at tossing coin around Hollywood.

The scandal-plagued lobbyist had a brief stint in the movie biz in the late '80s, when he and his brother, Robert Abramoff, co-wrote and produced anti-Communist actioner "Red Scorpion."

Pic, toplining Swede muscleman-turned-actor Dolph Lundgren and shot mostly in South Africa, grossed $4.1 million in the U.S. after costing $16 million to make.

Abramoff made few friends along the way -- Warner Bros. pulled out of its distribution pact after anti-apartheid activists protested the shoot.

After the movie bombed, Abramoff got revenge on Hollywood by starting an org dedicated to fighting obscenity in movies.

But he soon set off for Washington and embarked on his scandalous lobbying career.

Now he finally has a storyline sure to sell.