Brittany Higgins’ ex-boss, Linda Reynolds, said she never used the word “rape” during her initial complaints about Bruce Lehrmann.
Senator Reynolds made the extraordinary revelation to 7News Spotlight on Sunday night during her first-ever televised interview about Ms. Higgins’ allegations.
Ms Higgins alleged that Mr Lehrmann raped her in March 2019 in Senator Reynolds’ office, when she was Secretary of Defense Industries, in the House of Representatives. He strongly denies the allegations.
The former Liberal staffer first made her accusations against Mr Lehrmann public in February 2021, in an online article by Samantha Maiden and in a TV interview on The Project with Lisa Wilkinson.
The senator said she was shocked when she watched the episode of The Project and found that Ms. Higgins had accused her of treating her allegations as a problem instead of taking them seriously.
Mr. Lehrmann also said he has been denied the right to the presumption of innocence and is likely to file a multimillion-dollar lawsuit.
“It will have to be,” he said. “I’ll never work again.”
Bruce Lehrmann (pictured) was featured on a Sunday night episode of 7News Spotlight
Senator Reynolds also said she only found out about the sexual assault allegations a week after she met Ms. Higgins in her office.
She also claimed that Mrs. Higgins never used the “r-word” during that conversation and when she found out about the rape allegations, she thought Mrs. Higgins should go straight to the police.
The former minister also said the outgoing ACT director of public prosecutions, Shane Drumgold, should have been ‘fired’ – claiming he portrayed her as ‘the perfect villain’ during the rape trial last October.
Mr Lehrmann’s lawyer, Steven Whybrow, was also interviewed and spoke mainly about Mr Drumgold’s behaviour, claiming that his client was ‘not given a fair trial’.
The lawyer explained that he felt that the prosecution deliberately kept him in the dark about a series of elements during the trial.
The second 7News Spotlight interview of Mr. Lehrmann comes almost a week after the findings of a committee of inquiry were handed over by ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr – in the form of a lengthy report of nearly 900 pages.
The inquiry, chaired by former Judge Walter Sofronoff, examined how his trial in the ACT Supreme Court last October was handled by police and ACT’s Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold.
On Sunday night, Senator Reynolds and Mr. Whybrow said it was extraordinary that Mr. Drumgold was able to handle his case in this way.
Brittany Higgins (pictured center) alleged that Bruce Lehrmann raped her in 2019. He denies those allegations
Last week Mr. Lehrmann told Daily Mail Australia that he was looking forward to revealing more details about his trial from his perspective on Sunday night.
“I have plenty to say after the mess of a press conference today, but I’ll wait until I sit down with Liam Bartlett again this Sunday on 7News Spotlight,” he said.
In addition to details of the trial, the interview will also focus on Mr. Lehrmann to the AC, and his response to the damning investigation results against Mr. Drumgold.
In a promo for the interview, Mr. Lehrmann looked into the lens of the camera and said, ‘We knew there was play going on, just not how bad’.
The first trial was called off because a juror brought banned investigative material to court, before Mr Drumgold dropped the charges entirely in December due to Ms Higgins’ mental health.
Most of the interview will focus on Mr Lehrmann’s upcoming legal action against the ACT over the botched trial.
ACT Director of Public Prosecutions, Shane Drumgold (pictured at trial), has resigned
However, the promo hinted that he may also be planning a lawsuit against Ms. Higgins.
In the clip, Mr. Lehrmann can be seen looking concerned after being asked if he will “sue her (Mrs. Higgins) for libel?”
Mr. Lehrmann will also release his response to the “damaging” investigative findings against the man who attempted to prosecute but failed to prosecute, Mr Drumgold.
Former Defense Secretary Linda Reynolds, the liberal senator whose office alleges Ms.
Higgins was raped, will also appear in the episode.