Prime Minister Paul Martin will be the first to get his hands on the long-awaited report into the sponsorship scandal on Monday, 16 hours ahead of its public release.

Justice John Gomery's first report looking into the now-defunct federal program will be delivered to the government at 6 p.m. Monday by commission officials, The Globe and Mail reports.

That will give Martin and his strategists about 16 hours to chew over the potentially volatile findings.

On Tuesday, journalists will go into a lockup in Ottawa at 6 a.m. where they will be given the report.

They will have four hours to study the findings, but without being able to broadcast or print its findings until 10 a.m.

It will also be at 10 a.m. that Government House Leader Tony Valeri will table the document in the House of Commons.

Though Gomery will make a statement at 10:45 a.m. on Tuesday, he is not expected to take any questions.

Meanwhile, Gomery is writing his second report, in which he will table recommendations to ensure a similar scandal can never happen again.

It is expected to be released on Feb. 1. Martin has promised to call an election within 30 days of that report.

In the meantime, The Globe reports that warning letters have been sent to some of the people who may need to mount a defence after the first report is issued.

The Globe reports at least one of those letters may have been sent last spring, although the timing is unconfirmed.

"People who might come in to some sort of criticism in the Gomery report were sent these letters under Section 13 of the (federal) Inquiries act," CTV's Question Period co-host and Globe columnist Jane Taber said, appearing on Canada AM.

"It just gives them a heads-up, and their lawyers a heads-up, that they might have to prepare a defence."

Under the section, Gomery was required to issue warning letters as soon as he felt he might make a negative finding against someone.

However, receiving one of these letters does not necessarily mean the person will be criticized in the report.