SNYDER PROTESTS HOMELESS CENSUS

Mitch Snyder, advocate for the homeless, wants a federal grand jury to investigate his claim that Department of Housing and Urban Development officials lied to Congress and a U.S. District Court judge about the preparation of a 1984 report on the number of homeless persons in this country.

The report estimates the number of homeless to be 350,000 rather than the 2 million to 3 million estimated by Snyder and other advocates.

In the latest round of his two-year battle to disprove the report, Snyder sent a letter yesterday to the foreman of one of the grand juries now sitting here asking that the panel investigate his allegations of criminal misconduct without the assistance of the U.S. attorney's office. Snyder called the procedure "very unusual" because prosecutors usually present evidence and call witnesses before a grand jury.

A preliminary investigation by the U.S. attorney's office last year found there was no basis to believe that HUD officials violated any laws.

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