“If something like that had happened, I’d damn sure know about it,” said Arthur Van Court, a U.S. marshal in Sacramento who handled Reagan’s security two decades ago as chief of special services.

He said he investigated allegations of homosexual activity within the Administration because gays in high-level state posts could have been susceptible to blackmail.

While he declined to discuss his findings or those who were the subject of his investigation, he added: “We’ll say they were aware of what I had, I imagine. They left peacefully.”

But he described as “hogwash” the rumor that has dogged Kemp, 51, a candidate for President who served 20 years ago as a youth adviser to Reagan. “Just take my word for it; Jack’s not involved,” Van Court said in an interview.

Allegations that homosexuals worked within Reagan’s Administration were raised by the late columnist Drew Pearson in 1967.

A staff shake-up in the governor’s office at the time was linked persistently to the charges despite Reagan’s denials. The departure of Kemp, then a professional football player who advised Reagan during the off-season, fueled speculation that he was tied to the allegations.

Van Court said he fully investigated the issue without Reagan’s knowledge at the urging of some members the governor’s staff.

“I think the situation with homosexuals being a bad security risk in any way, shape or form–the feelings were much stronger on that than they are in this day and age,” he said.

Kemp in a breakfast meeting with Sacramento political reporters Monday was asked about the rumor that still surfaces in political circles.

“Nobody ever made a charge,” said Kemp, seated next to his wife, Joanne. “I feel confident of myself and my career and my good name. There’s going to be some of that rumor about everybody. Anyone who takes the time to look at it comes to the same conclusion. It was a canard right from the beginning.”