Townsend Indicted

After Dr. Francis E. ("The Plan") Townsend cried persecution and flounced out of a House investigating committee room last spring (TIME, June 1), the House boldly voted to charge him with contempt, then discreetly proceeded to let the matter lapse until after election. Soon as the old pensioneer's political pretensions had been destroyed at the polls last month, the U. S. District Attorney in Washington sprang into action. Last week a grand jury indicted Dr. Townsend for contempt of the House. Also indicted were two onetime aides, Clinton Wunder and John B. Kiefer, who, on Dr. Townsend's advice, refused to appear before the committee. Both have since become bitterly estranged from their old chief.

Penalty for conviction on this rare charge is one to twelve months in jail, $100 to $1,000 fine. In Los Angeles, Dr. Townsend, not averse to publicity-making martyrdom, announced that he would go to jail before paying a fine. In Washington, legal authorities announced that he would probably have no choice, since a jail sentence would almost certainly accompany his conviction.

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