Stephanie Birkitt has been identified as one of the women at the center of the David Letterman extortion plot. According to reports, Birkitt had an affair with Letterman before 2003, when his then-girlfriend Regina Lasko gave birth to their son Harry. Letterman and Lasko were married this March.

Birkitt, Letterman’s assistant, apparently lived with the alleged blackmailer Robert Halderman, a producer for CBS’ 48 hours. Halderman “was in possession of Birkitt’s diary, correspondence and photos – which he says incriminated Letterman,” according to TMZ.com.

He used the information to attempt to extort $2 million from Letterman.

On his CBS show Thursday, Letterman revealed the extortion attempt. The talk show host said the extortion started 3 weeks ago when he found a package in the backseat of his car. The package contained a letter from someone claiming to have evidence that Letterman had sex with employees of his program. The individual, who has not been officially identified, sought $2 million from Letterman to keep the information quiet.

With the help of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Special Prosecution Bureau, Letterman gave the extortionist a counterfeit $2 million check. The suspect was arrested Thursday.

“I had to go downtown and testify before a grand jury. I had to tell them all of the creepy things that I had done … The creepy stuff was that I have had sex with women who work for me on this show,” Letterman, 62, told the audience. “My response to that is, yes I have. Would it be embarrassing if it were made public? Perhaps it would. I feel like I need to protect these people. I need to certainly protect my family.”

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