David Letterman's accused extortionist cites Tiger Woods mistress payoff in his defense (video)

FILE - Robert J. "Joe" Halderman (AP Photo/Steven Hirsch, Pool) 
 

David Letterman’s accused extortionist Robert Halderman is taking a page out of Tiger Woods playbook to help his own defense.

In court filings, Halderman’s lawyer wrote that if it is not a crime for Tiger Woods’ mistresses to seek payoffs for their silence, Halderman should not be charged with a crime for trying to make a deal with Letterman.

Specifically, Halderman’s lawyer, Gerald Shargel cited alleged mistress Rachel Uchitel as someone who was paid for her silence.

The Woods/mistress defense did not sit well with Uchitel’s attorney, Gloria Allred, who told TMZ.com: "Mr. Shargel should spend his time representing his client based solely on the facts of his case, rather than comparing it to other matters of which he has no personal knowledge,"

TMZ commented: “In other words, Rachel's settlement was confidential.”

Previous updates:

Tiger Woods voluntarily allowed Florida Highway Patrol troopers to inspect his upper body including his chest, back, hands, and arms, according to an exclusive report on Orlando station WESH-TV,  The troopers said there was no signs of domestic violence and that the only visible injury was a "fat lip" that they say was consistent with Woods hitting the steering wheel.  Click here for more details on the WESH story.

AT&T announced it is hanging up on Woods.  Click here for the company's statement and for information on other sponsors who have parted ways with Woods.

On a lighter note, a hilarious parody is generating a lot of buzz on YouTube.  Click here to watch "Wife of the Tiger."

Tiger Woods' alleged mistress Rachel Uchitel spoke briefly to a Florida television station,   She had the opportunity to deny that she is seeing Woods but instead said she wouldn't comment on the reports.  Some have suggested that she is intentionally feeding the rumors for attention and to keep herself associated with Woods.  Is she playing the press?  Click here for more details and to view the interview with her.

A widely circulated e-mail reports that Woods went to Arizona just after he was released from the hospital on the day of his crash.  The purpose of the Arizona trip was to be treated for facial injuries.   According to the e-mail, Woods' injuries were so severe that he required extensive plastic surgery in Arizona.  Woods' agent said the story wasn't true.  Veteran sportswriter Furman Bisher reported the story and said the information was given to him by a trustworthy colleague.  It is unclear whether the e-mail was the result of Bisher's story or if Bisher printed the story not knowing that he had been forwarded a viral e-mail.   Click here for more and for links to Bisher's Web site and his response to the controversy.

Meanwhile, the Woods scandal has been fodder for comics since day one.   Now, the scandal has been immortalized in Jib-Jab's annual look back to the year that was.  Near the end of the video, a cut out of Nordegren can be seen whacking Woods with a golf club.   It appears that the Tiger Woods scandal was a bit of an afterthought.   No doubt the video makers were well into production when Woods' November 27 accident happened.  Less famous scandals are given more prominence. Click here for more and to view the video.

A couple of UC Davis economists say the Tiger Woods mistress scandal may wind up costing  as much as $12 billion.   Click here for the story.