Clyburn defends his decision to hire felon

By JAMES ROSEN - jrosen@mcclatchydc.com

WASHINGTON— U.S. House Majority Whip James Clyburn on Thursday defended his decision to hire a convicted felon, recently released from federal prison, who was charged with bribery and extortion.

Clyburn, a Columbia Democrat and the No. 3 U.S. 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 father was a minister,” Clyburn said. “My faith is very important to me. 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 accepting $50,000 from an FBI agent posing as a consultant to a company seeking to buy the Regional Medical Center in Orangeburg.

Rickenbacker was released last month from the Alston Wilkes Society halfway house in Columbia after serving 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. Clyburn has become one of the nation’s most visible Democrats.

“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.

“It is likely to be used politically as an election issue, particularly in an election year where there is so little for the Republicans to latch on to.”

Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Minority Leader John Boehner, said the Ohio Republican had no immediate comment.

Rickenbacker pleaded guilty under a U.S. statute that targets a specific type of bribery tied to programs that receive federal funds. The Orangeburg hospital gets money from Washington under a range of federal programs.

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.

“How do you bribe a field representative who’s helping you fill out forms to get your Social Security (benefits)?” Clyburn said.

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 Republicans will be able to compare his hiring of Rickenbacker to the Abramoff bribery scandals.

“I don’t see where anybody can make any political hay out of this,” Clyburn said. “Abramoff was stealing millions of dollars from Native Americans. This is nothing akin to that. (Rickenbacker) was not soliciting anything. He got caught in a sting. It’s totally different.”

Clyburn said he first met Rickenbacker in the 1980s when the younger man worked for then-Lt. Gov. Michael Daniel.

Clyburn said his district director, Robert Nance, vetted Rickenbacker’s background carefully and received many recommendations from longtime associates.

Rickenbacker, a former teacher and guidance counselor, 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, his head down. “I just know that I’m very sorry.”

Columbia Mayor Bob Coble, who asked Seymour for leniency at the hearing, Thursday praised Clyburn for giving Rickenbacker a fresh start.

“John is a good person who made a mistake,” Coble said. “He served Orangeburg very well. He’s done his time. I hope he will be able to get his life back in order and put this behind him.”

Rosen covers Washington for McClatchy Newspapers in South Carolina.