Lisa Wilkinson’s husband Peter FitzSimons issues demand to Bruce Lehrmann

Lisa Wilkinson’s husband, Peter FitzSimons, has asked a court to order Bruce Lehrmann to pay the author’s legal costs associated with responding to a subpoena in the successful defamation lawsuit against the former political staffer.

Federal Court Judge Michael Lee will hand down his landmark ruling early next month after Mr Lehrmann sued Network 10 and Ms Wilkinson over the high-profile journalist’s Logie-winning interview with Brittany Higgins.

Mr Lehrmann claims he was defamed by The Project broadcast after Ms Higgins alleged she was raped by her former colleague on a sofa in the office of their boss, Senator Linda Reynolds, in March 2019.

He has denied the allegations and his trial in the ACT Supreme Court ended in a mistrial over juror misconduct before the Director of Public Prosecutions dropped the charges.

Mr Lehrmann claims he was defamed by The Project broadcast after Ms Higgins alleged she was raped by her former colleague on a sofa in the office of their boss, Senator Linda Reynolds, in March 2019.

Author and Sydney Morning Herald columnist Mr FitzSimons was previously summoned in connection with Ms Higgins’ book deal with publisher Penguin Random House.

The court previously heard that Ms Higgins was paid $108,000 as an advance for a book deal and was said to have received a further $216,000 from Penguin Random House when she completed the project.

In documents released by the Federal Court on Tuesday, it was revealed that Mr FitzSimons applied for an order that Mr Lehrmann pay for his ‘reasonable losses or costs’ associated with complying with the subpoena.

According to documents produced by Penguin Random House, Ms. Higgins has entered into a deal to deliver a 90,000-word book by January 2022, described as “a memoir spanning Brittany’s courageous personal story.”

According to the agreement signed in March 2021, she would have received $325,000 for the book.