Rohrabacher, who is of German and English descent, was born June 21, 1947, in Coronado, California, the son of Doris M. (nee Haring) and Donald Tyler Rohrabacher. He attended elementary school locally, and during his college years, he lived in Sunset Beach. Rohrabacher graduated from Palos Verdes High School in Palos Verdes Estates, California, attended Los Angeles Harbor College, and earned a bachelor's degree in history at California State University, Long Beach in 1969. He received his master's degree in American Studies at the University of Southern California.

In terms of his positions, Rohrabacher voted to repeal Obamacare, disputes evidence of man-made global warming, is a staunch opponent of illegal immigration, and favors the legalization of marijuana. In foreign policy, he supported withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan, called for Trump to punish Turkish President Erdogan on embassy violence, sided with Russia in the Russia-Georgia war, gave a qualified defense of the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and supports cooperating with Russia in Syria.  On May 17, 2017, the Washington Post reported that a month before Donald Trump clinched the Republican nomination, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy stated "There's two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump. Swear to God." Brendan Buck, counselor to Paul Ryan, initially denied these reports but later, after being informed that the Post would cite a recording as evidence, said that McCarthy had been joking.  He was warned in 2012 by the FBI that Russian spies may have been trying to recruit him to act on Russia's behalf, after he met with a member of the Russian foreign ministry privately in Moscow. Following the ISIS terrorist attacks in Tehran on June 7, 2017, in which 17 innocent civilians were killed, he suggested that the attack could be viewed as 'a good thing', and surmised that President Trump might have been behind the coordination of this terrorist attack. An article in The Atlantic suggested that there was serious concern in the State Department of ties between Rohrabacher and the Russian government.  On November 21, 2017, the New York Times reported that Rohrabacher had come under scrutiny from special counsel Robert Mueller and the Senate Intelligence Committee for his close ties to the Kremlin.  Rohrabacher has drawn public criticism for some of his positions. His controversial statements include the conspiracy theory claims, first promoted by the politically-biased conspiracy theory website Infowars, that Democrats secretly organized the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville to provoke the violence by the alt-right (which led to the murder of one anti-Nazi protester) in order to discredit President Trump. Rochabacher has also consistently supported Russian interests in Congress and has defended Trump's controversial remarks regarding Russia.

What was the cause of this scrutiny?
Rohrabacher has drawn public criticism for some of his positions. His controversial statements include the conspiracy theory claims,