Pictured: Lisa Wilkinson on Thursday
Peter FitzSimons has been ordered to turn over documents regarding the $325,000 book deal he landed for Brittany Higgins during Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation trial against Channel 10 star Lisa Wilkinson.
A Federal Court judge on Friday denied a request from Wilkinson’s attorney Sue Chrysanthou to exonerate FitzSimons from giving evidence in his wife’s trial.
On Thursday, Wilkinson was spotted having a tense phone conversation at a cafe.
Ms Chrysanthou told the court at a hearing on the administration of the case that she did not understand why Ms Higgins’s book deal was relevant to Mr Lehrmann’s defamation trial.
“Ms Higgins’ allegations are from March 2019, but the book deal is after that – in March 2022,” she said.
“We have no idea how a book deal two years after the alleged incident is relevant.
“It seems to be fishing around and we don’t know what for.”
In May, Daily Mail Australia exclusively revealed text messages between Higgins, her fiancé David Sharaz and FitzSimons in which the trio conspired to get as much publicity as possible on Ms Higgins’ forthcoming book about her April 2021 rape allegations.
Lisa Wilkinson was spotted in a cafe on Thursday during a tense phone conversation
Lisa Wilkinson (pictured Thursday) is being sued by Bruce Lehrmann over her February 2021 interview with Brittany Higgins
Ms Chrysanthou said her team asked Mr Lehrmann’s lawyers why they were after the talks Ms Higgins had with Mr FitzSimons about her book deal, and were told those details would erode the former Liberal staffer’s credibility.
“How could a book deal two years later have or could have anything to do with her credit?” she asked.
But Judge Michael Lee replied, “I think it’s relevant and I grant the subpoena.”
The court was also told that Parliament House “didn’t have” some of the CCTV footage from the night of the alleged rape on March 23, 2019, which captured the couple together on Capitol Hill.
Ms Chrysanthou said she was ‘concerned’. Parliament House said it did not have the crucial CCTV footage on the night of the alleged rape, even though it was broadcast on Channel Seven’s Spotlight during an interview with Mr Lehrmann in June.
“It is worrying that there is no full production [of the footage],’ she said.
“Given the relevance of the footage to the facts at issue between the parties, we believe there must be an explanation as to why that material was not produced.”
The court was told that the Department of Parliamentary Services would make a new application to find out why the material had not been produced at a later date.
Lisa Wilkinson’s husband Peter FitzSimons (pictured together) will testify at the defamation trial
Daily Mail Australia previously revealed texts between Mr FitzSimons, Ms Higgins and her fiancé David Sharaz which appeared to show they were running publicity for her $325,000 book deal (mock-up of one text is pictured)
Mr Lehrmann is suing the ABC, Network Ten and Ms Lisa Wilkinson for libel over news outlets relating to allegations that he raped Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in March 2019.
The case against Ten and Wilkinson relates to an interview the presenter did with Ms Higgins about The Project in February 2021.
Mr Lehrmann is also suing the ABC for defamation over a National Press Club broadcast featuring a joint speech by Ms Higgins and former Australian of the Year Grace Tame in February 2021.
Lehrmann denies claims that the couple, who worked for Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds at the time, never had any sexual interaction.
ABC star Laura Tingle – who also appeared in leaked texts between Higgins and her boyfriend – will also have to present evidence in the case, the court ruled.
Ms. Tingle hosted the Press Club broadcast and is the chief political correspondent for the national broadcaster’s 7:30 am program.
Publisher Penguin Random House has also been subpoenaed to answer questions about the deal.
Pictured: Brittany Higgins with partner David Sharaz. She alleged that Bruce Lehrmann raped her in Parliament House in 2019. He denies the accusation
While the Press Club address never directly named Mr. Lehrmann, he claims he was defamed because it invited viewers to speculate about the identity of the accused.
A separate lawsuit filed against News Corp and journalist Samantha Maiden settled last month, with the publisher paying a portion of Mr. Lehrmann’s legal fees but not requiring him to pay damages.
Lehrmann’s rape trial in ACT’s Supreme Court spiraled out of control due to misconduct by a juror.
Prosecutors decided to take no further action, citing concerns about the impact it could have on Ms Higgins’ mental health.
The ACT government launched an investigation into how the justice system responded to Ms Higgins’ allegations.
A report is being prepared and will be delivered to Chief Minister Andrew Barr at the end of July.
The defamation cases have been postponed to July 17.
Bruce Lehrmann is pictured, left, with his lawyer Steven Whybrow outside the ACT Supreme Court in October