CBS News employee pleads 'not guilty' in David Letterman blackmail plot

Photo by John Paul Filo/AP Photo

David Letterman

Photo by John Paul Filo/AP Photo

David Letterman

NEW YORK — The other woman?

Celebrity gossip Web site TMZ.com reports that David Letterman had an affair with his assistant Stephanie Birkitt. TMZ.com also reports that Birkitt was involved with accused blackmailer Joe Halderman, who was allegedly in possession of Birkitt's diary, letters and photos which Halderman says incriminated Letterman.

TMZ.com reports that Letterman's relationship with Birkitt ended before Letterman and now-wife Regina Lasko had their child in 2003.

Halderman in court

A CBS News employee pleaded not guilty Friday to trying to blackmail David Letterman for $2 million in a plot that spurred the TV host to acknowledge sexual relationships with women who worked on his show.

Robert J. “Joe” Halderman, a producer for the true-crime show “48 Hours,” entered the plea in a Manhattan court as he was arraigned on one count of attempted first-degree grand larceny, punishable by five to 15 years upon conviction. Bail was set at $200,000.

Assistant District Attorney Judy Salwen told the judge Halderman was in debt, but did not elaborate. “The evidence is compelling,” she said. “It shows the defendant is desperate, and he is capable of doing anything.”

The prosecutor said Halderman gave the talk show host a package of materials that “contained clear, explicit and actual threats that indicate this defendant (wanted to) destroy the reputation of Mr. Letterman and to submit him and his family to humiliation and ridicule.”

Halderman, hands cuffed behind his back, stared at the floor during most of the hearing and said only, “not guilty.”

His lawyer, Gerald Shargel, said Halderman worked at CBS for 27 years and had no prior criminal record. He described him as an involved father, who coached soccer, baseball and football for his two children, ages 11 and 18.

“This story is far more complicated than what you heard this afternoon,” Shargel said outside of court, but he would not elaborate.

Documents filed in Stamford Superior Court in Connecticut show that Halderman, of Norwalk, was required to pay about $6,800 a month in child and spousal support to his ex-wife.

Prosecutors say Halderman demanded $2 million last month in exchange for not releasing information that would ruin Letterman’s reputation. Letterman told his viewers Thursday that the threat concerned sexual liaisons with female staffers.

Authorities say the plot prompted a sting operation at a New York hotel, with Letterman’s lawyer secretly recording Halderman’s threats.

Letterman's blackmail tale

The district attorney’s office said Halderman left a letter and other material for Letterman early Sept. 9. He wrote that he needed “to make a large chunk of money” by selling Letterman a screenplay treatment — an entertainment-business term for a synopsis used to pitch a screenplay.

The supposed treatment said Letterman’s world would “collapse around him” when information about his private life was disclosed, leading to “a ruined reputation” and damaging his professional and family life, prosecutors said. The also mentioned Letterman’s “beautiful and loving son,” prosecutors said.

It wasn’t clear whether the reference was meant as a threat to harm the boy. Letterman was the victim of a 2005 plot by a former painter at his Montana ranch to kidnap his nanny and son for a ransom.

After receiving the materials, Letterman immediately contacted his lawyer, who arranged a meeting with Halderman. At the meeting, Halderman demanded $2 million to keep the material secret, the district attorney’s office said. After the meeting, Letterman and his lawyer contacted the DA’s office and the investigation began.

In an extraordinary monologue before millions of viewers, the late-night host admitted that he had sexual relationships with female employees. Letterman said that “this whole thing has been quite scary,” but he mixed in jokes while outlining what had happened to him.

It was a shock because the 62-year-old Letterman had married longtime girlfriend Regina Lasko in March. The couple began dating in 1986 and have a son, Harry, born in November 2003. It was not immediately clear when the relationships to which Letterman admitted took place, or how long they lasted.

Fatherhood and his heart surgery in 2000 had seemed to mellow Letterman, who took over as the most popular late-night comedy host this summer after NBC replaced Jay Leno with Conan O’Brien on the “Tonight” show.

Letterman sat behind his desk to outline the scheme after a monologue that targeted some frequent foils like Sarah Palin and Dick Cheney.

Three weeks ago, Letterman said, he got in his car early in the morning and found a package with a letter saying, “I know that you do some terrible, terrible things and that I can prove that you do some terrible things.” He acknowledged the letter contained proof.

He said it was terrifying “because there’s something insidious about (it). Is he standing down there? Is he hiding under the car? Am I going to get a tap on the shoulder?”

A law enforcement official told The Associated Press that the district attorney’s office set up the undercover sting operation at the swank Jumeirah Essex House hotel in Manhattan. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation continues.

Police detectives were in an adjoining room with recording equipment and surveillance as Letterman’s attorney met with Halderman and discussed terms of the extortion, the official said.

“At one point he told the attorney that he didn’t want to have to work for the rest of his life, and the number he came up with was $2 million,” the law enforcement official said.

Court documents posted on TMZ.com show he was required to pay nearly $6,000 a month in child and spousal support to his ex-wife.

There were two subsequent meetings, with the man given a phony $2 million check at the last one. Letterman joked on his show it was like the giant ceremonial check given to winners of golf tournaments.

He told the audience that he had to testify before a grand jury on Thursday.

“I was worried for myself; I was worried for my family,” he said. “I felt menaced by this, and I had to tell them all of the creepy things that I had done.”

He said, “The creepy stuff was that I have had sex with women who work for me on this show. My response to that is yes, I have. Would it be embarrassing if it were made public? Yes, it would, especially for the women.”

Whether they wanted to make the relationships public was up to them, he said.

“It’s been a very bizarre experience,” he said. “I felt like I needed to protect these people. I need to protect my family. I need to protect myself. Hope to protect my job.”

CBS said in a statement that “we believe his comments speak for themselves.”

Letterman’s “Late Show” has been on the air since 1993. Before that, “Late Night with David Letterman” aired on NBC from 1982 to 1993.

Letterman won’t be taping a show Friday. Friday night’s show was taped Thursday.

The 2005 kidnapping plot was carried out by a former painter on Letterman’s ranch and sought a $5 million ransom. The former painter, Kelly A. Frank, briefly escaped from prison in 2007 before being recaptured.

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Associated Press writers Colleen Long and Jennifer Peltz in New York, John Christoffersen in Norwalk, Conn., and AP Television Writer Lynn Elber contributed to this report.

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On the Net: www.cbs.com

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