Judge admits to getting threatening messages

Washington: The US judge who oversaw the CIA leak trial of a former aide to Vice-President Dick Cheney said yesterday that he received threatening letters and phone calls after sentencing I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby to prison.

"I received a number of angry, harassing mean-spirited phone calls and letters," District Judge Reggie B. Walton said. "Some of those were wishing bad things on me and my family." Walton made the remarks as he opened a hearing into whether to delay Libby's 2 1/2-year sentence.

He said he was holding the letters in case something happened but said they would have no effect on his decision.

Libby, the former chief of staff to Cheney argues that he should not have to report to prison until his appeals have run out. Walton has said he is not inclined to grant that request. But even if he rules that way, it is unlikely Libby would be taken away in handcuffs. Rather, it would lead to more manoeuvring in Libby's legal fight. Libby's newly formed appellate team - Lawrence S. Robbins and Mark Stancil - are standing by. If Libby loses, his lawyers have said they will ask an appeals court for an emergency order delaying the sentence.