NEW YORK — 
Stephanie Birkitt has been thrust into the public spotlight after being identified as the woman at the center of the David Letterman extortion plot.
Birkitt, 34, is a former assistant to Letterman who worked her way up from intern in 1996 to a familiar face on the "Late Show," where her duties ranged from introducing the viewer mail segment to covering the Winter Olympics.
Birkitt is said to have recently dated and lived with Robert "Joe" Halderman, the CBS "48 Hours" producer who has been charged with trying to extort $2 million from Letterman. On Sept. 9, Halderman allegedly threatened Letterman in the early morning hours with plans to produce a screenplay that would cause "severe damage" to the host. He handed over a package to Letterman, which included copies of parts of a diary and personal correspondence belonging to his then-girlfriend Birkitt, according to a search warrant obtained by Fox 5 News.
Over the years, Birkitt has often talked about her closeness with Letterman, at one point referring to him as the "best boss I've ever had" in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. She also spoke highly of her former boss during an chat with the Fort Worth Star Telegram in 2004.
"He puts me very much at ease," she told the paper. "He's very laid back about the whole thing. It's kind of just like hanging out onstage with your buddy."
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