Attack of the slimy TV producer

You might be sick of reading about the David Letterman scandal, but it’s worth noting that scumbag TV producer Robert “Joe” Halderman — the guy who allegedly tried to extort $2 million from the “Late Night” talk show host — passed through these parts six years ago.

Halderman, who worked for CBS’s “48 Hours” until he was suspended earlier this month, was the executive producer of “Who Killed The Prosecutor?” That hourlong program looked into the September 2002 stabbing death of Kern County Assistant District Attorney Steve Tauzer.

Halderman was slithering around Bakersfield in late 2003, popping in at the newspaper office for research on a couple of occasions. The program aired in January 2004.

I can’t cite any specifics about Halderman’s behavior while he was here, because I can’t remember any of the conversations. I can only recall the urge to wash my hands vigorously after briefly being in the same room with him.

Halderman allegedly sent Letterman a package that threatened to reveal his sexcapades with female subordinates unless Letterman paid him. Instead, Letterman wisely chose to reveal the plot to his audience on his Oct. 1 show. Halderman, apparently deep in debt, was indicted by a grand jury and pleaded not guilty in a subsequent court appearance.

Stephanie Birkitt, a former assistant to Letterman, was apparently one of the women involved, and her diary seems to have been the source of Halderman’s information. Birkitt, who lived with Halderman after his 2004 divorce, first met the news producer while working as a page for “48 Hours.”

So, to summarize, both men slept with this particular subordinate, which makes Halderman not only an alleged extortionist but a hypocrite as well. Now, excuse me while I go wash my hands.