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"Was the David Letterman extortion plot all just a big misunderstanding?\r\nThat was Tuesday&amp;apos;s argument from an attorney for defendant Robert Halderman -- the CBS producer accused of attempting to blackmail the talk show host with incriminating details about his affairs with female staffers.\r\nStars caught cheating -- see our slideshow roundup\r\nAsking a New York judge to dismiss Halderman&amp;apos;s indictment, defense lawyer Gerald Shargel said that his client wasn&amp;apos;t blackmailing anyone; instead, he was trying to make a &amp;quot;hard-driven&amp;quot; deal to sell rights to a screenplay inspired by Letterman&amp;apos;s sexually-charged workplace, reports the Daily News.\r\nIn fact, Shargel argues, the prosecution&amp;apos;s case against the accused man &amp;quot;infringes on Halderman&amp;apos;s basic First Amendment right to author and/or sell a book.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nOn Oct. 1, Halderman was arrested for attempting to extort $2 million from Letterman with a threat to leak information about his sexual affairs with female employees on his Late Show.\r\nPapers released in court detail what Halderman&amp;apos;s attorney characterizes as aggressive attempts to get a lucrative deal for a screenplay. Halderman observed that &amp;quot;Letterman had created and fostered an environment of workplace sexual misconduct that under any definition amounted to actionable sexual harassment.&amp;quot;\r\nCatch up on today&amp;apos;s hottest celeb photos\r\nOn a personal note, Halderman also discovered that his live-in girlfriend, Late Show staffer Stephanie Birkitt, was having an affair with Letterman -- the prosecution is arguing that his ensuing anger fueled his blackmail plot.\r\nHalderman is currently charged with first-degree grand larceny."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/accused-letterman-blackmailer-asks-judge-to-dismiss-the-case-20091011>