Lisa Wilkinson defence revealed against Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case
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Lisa Wilkinson presented her defense in the defamation case brought against her by Bruce Lehrmann.
The former Project host will seek to “prove” that the former Liberal Party staffer raped “an intoxicated Brittany Higgins” at Parliament House in 2019 when they were colleagues.
Documents made public by the Federal Court on Wednesday also describe Wilkinson denying that he sought to use the sexual assault allegations against Mr. Lehrmann for personal and professional gain.
Mr Lehrmann has always denied raping Ms Higgins and filed a libel suit against Network Ten and News Life Media Pty Ltd in Federal Court last month.
In a 22-page legal document filed by Ms Wilkinson’s lawyer, Sue Chrysanthou SC, Wilkinson claims that she acted as a responsible journalist.
Lisa Wilkinson has filed her defense in the libel case of former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann, accusing him of lying about his sexual encounter with Brittany Higgins.
The TV star who won a Gold Logie for her interview with Higgins has strongly denied Lehrmann’s claim that she was “recklessly indifferent to the truth” and was “fighting” over the exclusivity of the story with another journalist.
Lehrmann’s civil suit claims that Wilkinson was fighting for exclusivity with Samantha Maiden of news.com.au.
Wilkinson unequivocally denied this claim, stating that he never spoke to Maiden before the story aired.
Wilkinson’s defense asserted that the recklessness charges against him are “baseless, unjustified, unsupported by any facts and should be withdrawn.”
Daily Mail Australia understands that Mr Lehrmann gave Network 10 and news.com.au a settlement offer, but the media rejected the offer and vowed to fight the issues.
Bruce Lehrmann (pictured) has always denied raping Ms Higgins and filed a libel suit against Network Ten and News Life Media Pty Ltd in Federal Court last month.
Daily Mail Australia understands that Mr Lehrmann gave Network 10 and news.com.au a settlement offer, but the media rejected the offer and vowed to fight the issues.
The legal document states that Ms Wilkinson believes Mr Lehrmann “brought an intoxicated Higgins to Parliament House on March 23, 2019 with the intention of having sexual relations with her.”
It also references Higgins consuming 11 standard drinks in four and a half hours while with Lehrmann before sharing a cab with him that was later diverted to Parliament House.
The defense then alleges that Mr. Lehrmann and Ms. Higgins took the elevator up and entered the suite of Defense Minister Linda Reynolds, where Ms. Higgins fell asleep on the sofa.
“Higgins woke up some time later, around 2:30 a.m., and Lehrmann was on top of her having sex with her,” the court filing says.
‘Higgins did not consent to the sexual relationship with Lehrmann.
“He had sex with Higgins and left her there alone around 3 a.m., effectively naked and intoxicated.”
Part of the defamation claim is that the Project’s February 15, 2021 interview identified him as raping Ms. Higgins and also claimed that he continued to rape her.
In a 22-page legal document filed by Ms Wilkinson’s lawyer, Sue Chrysanthou SC, Wilkinson claims that she acted as a responsible journalist. Wilkinson’s defense asserted that the recklessness charges against her are “unfounded, unjustified, unsupported by any facts and should be withdrawn.”
Ms. Wilkinson claims in her legal filing that she “does not know” that no viewer of that episode was able to identify Mr. Lehrmann.
The former Project star also denies being recklessly indifferent to the truth on the broadcast, noting that Mr. Lehrmann was contacted multiple times to respond to the broadcast, but chose not to.
Another part of Mr. Lehrmann’s defamation lawsuit is that Ms. Wilkinson may have sought to use the allegations for her professional and personal gain, something Ms. Wilkinson denies.
The TV presenter also went on to say that at no time did she feel that Ms Higgins’s allegations were untrue.
Lehrmann was charged with raping Higgins six months after the interviews aired.
She pleaded not guilty during her rape trial at the ACT High Court in October last year.
In June, Ms Wilkinson won a Logie for her powerful television interview with the former Ms Higgins, when she alleged she was raped by a colleague at Parliament House in 2019.
In June, Ms Wilkinson won a Logie for her powerful television interview with the former Ms Higgins, when she made the case that she was raped by a colleague at Parliament House in 2019.
In her acceptance speech, Ms Wilkinson praised the former Liberal staffer who led to the delay of the trial of Ms Higgins’ accused rapist.
The trial was aborted in November due to misconduct by a juror.
The ACT’s director of public prosecution, Shane Drumgold SC, later dropped out of the trial entirely due to concerns about Ms Higgins’ mental health.
The case will return to court on March 16.