Robert Joe Halderman Pleads Not Guilty in Letterman Extortion Plot
CBS News producer Robert Joe Halderman pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted extortion against Late Show host David Letterman. Halderman is accused of trying to blackmail Letterman with evidence of his affairs with female staffers on his show, including former assistant Stephanie Birkitt.
David Letterman revealed on the Late Show on Thursday that Robert Halderman had attempted to extort him for $2 million to keep quiet about his sexual activities with Stephanie Birkitt and affairs with other female employees.
Robert Halderman, a producer on CBS’ 48 Hours, entered a plea of not guilty on charges of attempted grand larceny in a Manhattan court on Friday. Halderman has since been released on $200,000 bail with an order to stay away from Letterman. If convicted on the blackmail charges, Halderman could face up to 5 to 15 years in jail.
Stephanie Birkitt, Letterman’s former assistant, reportedly lives with Halderman and allegedly helped provide the evidence of the Late Show host’s sexual affairs to him for the extortion attempt.
Ummm, I think you have your facts off. I think the true scuttlebutt is that Stephanie LIVED with the suspect previously and they have recently split. The suspect had her diary and other papers with evidence of a FORMER relationship with David Letterman.