Charge Dismissed

Republican Senator Edward J. Gurney, President Nixon's most frequent defender on the Senate Watergate committee, has been running for re-election in Florida under the cloud of a scandal of his own. He was indicted in April for violating a Florida election law by not naming a campaign treasurer or setting up a special bank account. The charge involved funds, reportedly as much as $400,000, raised on Gurney's behalf from building contractors seeking influence with the Federal Housing Authority. But last week a Leon County judge, Charles McClure, dismissed the indictment as "fatally defective."

The judge concluded that the indictment was "so vague and indefinite that it misled the defendant in the preparation of his defense." Further, McClure said, the grand jury received "highly improper and prejudicial" legal advice from one witness. As a final touch, the judge ruled that the section of the law that Gurney was supposed to have violated was unconstitutional.

The Senator called the indictment a "trumped-up political charge from the beginning." But its dismissal did not end his troubles. Florida Attorney General Robert Shevin said that he would urge the Leon County prosecutor to appeal the decision. Moreover, a federal grand jury in Jacksonville is still investigating allegations of widespread bribery and kickbacks to politicians from Florida contractors. Gurney spent two days testifying before that grand jury last week.

He previously admitted that $100,000 was collected from builders in his name --but without his knowledge.

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