Al Gore's Uncle Threatened

By Stephen M. Silverman

10/10/1997 at 12:00 AM EDT

As if things weren't looking bad enough for the Al Gore camp, federal officials booked a Houston man yesterday on charges of threatening the vice-president's 82-year-old uncle, Judge Whit LaFon. According to court papers obtained by the Associated Press, Robbins Lee Mitchell made deadly phone threats to LaFon, demanding that the judge's nephew concede the presidential race. On Tuesday, says AP, prosecutors in Tennessee ordered Mitchell to be detained.