By James Rosen
House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn on Thursday defended his decision to hire a convicted felon recently released from federal prison on bribery and extortion charges. Clyburn, a Columbia Democrat and the No. 3 House leader, said former Orangeburg County Council Chairman John Rickenbacker has paid his debt to society and deserves a new political lease on life.  "My faith is very important to me." Clyburn said in an interview. "I do believe in redemption. As a public servant, I believe in rehabilitation. I do believe in the scripture when it says, 'Judge not lest ye be judged.'" Rickenbacker, 56, pleaded guilty in April 2007 to having accepted $50,000 from an FBI agent posing as a consultant to a company seeking to buy Regional Medical Center in Orangeburg.

Rickenbacker was released last month from the Alston Wilkes Society halfway house in Columbia after having served one year and a day in federal prison, most of the time in a minimum-security facility in Bennettsville.

Some political analysts and congressional ethics experts said Clyburn's hiring of a felon could be turned against Democrats in the fall congressional campaigns.

"It's certainly the type of appointment that raises questions," said Anthony Corrado, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, a liberal think tank in Washington.

Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Minority Leader John Boehner, said the Ohio Republican had no immediate comment on Clyburn's hiring of Rickenbacker.

Winston Holliday, the assistant U.S. attorney in Columbia who prosecuted Rickenbacker, also declined comment.

Other prosecutors noted that Rickenbacker pleaded guilty under a U.S. statute that targets a specific type of bribery tied to programs that receive federal funds.

In Washington, senior aides in congressional offices and executive agencies charged with overseeing federal employment practices said they knew of no laws or regulations that would prevent a lawmaker from hiring a felon.

Rickenbacker's new job as a field representative, Clyburn said, will help him steer clear of any temptations as he helps Social Security recipients, veterans and other constituents receive federal benefits.

Rickenbacker also will work with local businesses to help implement the Second Chance Act, which Bush signed into law last month. The bipartisan law helps prisoners make successful transitions back into society and gives businesses incentives to hire former convicts.

Clyburn didn't disclose Rickenbacker's salary. Similar posts in other congressional districts carry annual payments in the $50,000 range.

Democrats gained control of Congress in the November 2006 elections after bribery scandals tied to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff forced several GOP lawmakers to resign or go to jail. Claiming a mandate from the 2006 elections, Democrats passed a sweeping lobbying and ethics reform bill last year.

Clyburn scoffed at the notion that Republicans will be able to compare his hiring of Rickenbacker to the Abramoff bribery scandals.

Clyburn said his district director, Robert Nance, vetted Rickenbacker's background carefully and received many recommendations from long-time associates.

Rickenbacker was contrite at his sentencing hearing last year.

"I don't know what came over me," he told U.S. District Judge Margaret Seymour in Columbia.

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