Letterman Extortion Details

MYFOXNY - A producer for the CBS News show '48 Hours' has pleaded "not guilty" to charges that he attempted to extort $2 million from 'Late Show' host David Letterman.

Letterman's lawyer worked undercover to arrange a transfer of a phony check to Robert "Joe" Halderman, 51, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau.

The Connecticut resident threatened to make public a screenplay he had written about Letterman with private and personal details about his life.

Halderman faces up to 16 years in prison if convicted.

According to Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, Halderman was outside Letterman's home in Manhattan at 6 a.m. on September 9 when he handed the TV host the screenplay.

Letterman contacted his attorney.

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The District Attorney's office set up an undercover sting at a hotel. New York police detectives were in an adjoining room with recording equipment and surveillance.

Fox 5 News Reporter Giovanna Drpic has seen the search warrant in the extortion plot that lead to a sting involving three meetings between Halderman and investigators.

According to the warrant:

- Letterman is "Client 1."

-In the package he received, Halderman allegedly includes treatment for a screen play with supporting materials.

-The supporting materials had copies of parts of a diary and personal correspondence belonging to Halderman's girlfriend, Stephanie Birkitt- a former assistant to Letterman.

-A reference is made to "Client 1's great personal success and his beautiful and loving son."

-Halderman allegedly says he was publishing a book that had a lot more documents that would be incriminating including photos, letters and emails.

-Halderman met with undercover investigators twice during a sting operation:

-On September 23, Halderman allegedly told investigators that he would not divulge the contents of a diary in exchange for $2 million

-On September 30, Halderman was given a fake check he believed valued $2 million

During the Late Show on Thursday night, Letterman said the "creepy stuff" he's accused of includes the sexual relationships he has had with several female staffers.

It's not clear when those encounters occurred.

"This whole thing has been quite scary."

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.

Halderman was part of a team nominated for an Emmy for outstanding continuing coverage of a news story in a news magazine in 2008.

Letterman's "Late Show" audience was the first to hear the story, which came as a shock since 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. 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.

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?"

Letterman said he called his lawyer to set up a meeting with the man, who threatened to write a screenplay and a book about Letterman unless he was given money. There were two subsequent meetings, with the man given a phony $2 million check at the last one. Letterman joked 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." Perhaps as a defense mechanism, Letterman sprinkled his remarks with jokes: "I know what you're saying," he said. "I'll be darned, Dave had sex."
He said he wouldn't talk further about it, and recited a Top Ten list. But it wasn't far from his mind. During banter with actor guest Woody Harrelson, Letterman said, "I've got my own problems."

It was not immediately clear when the relationships took place or how long they lasted. Letterman's "Late Show" has been