Bruce Lehrmann defamation verdict LIVE: Everything you need to know as the judge hands down his decision

Federal Court Judge Michael Lee will deliver his decision in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Lisa Wilkinson and Channel Ten today at 10.15am

Lehrmann launched defamation proceedings over an episode of The Project in February 2021, during which Brittany Higgins She first went public with her rape allegations in an interview with Wilkinson.

He was not named in the broadcast, but claimed that friends and colleagues were able to identify him as the alleged rapist. He has always maintained his innocence.

The month-long trial was held in December and sentencing was initially set for April 4.

However, the matter was reopened in early April after Network Ten successfully argued that there was new evidence of the former channel seven employee Taylor Auerbach who was not available during the trial.

Auerbach was on the team for Seven’s Spotlight program when he secured exclusive interviews with Lehrmann, which aired in June and August last year.

It was during those two interviews that national television broadcast classified information about Mr. Lehrmann’s criminal proceedings.

The confidential material included private text messages from Ms Higgins and CCTV of Ms Higgins and Mr Lehrmann entering Parliament House before she was allegedly raped in March 2019.

The leaked information had originally been collected by the Australian Federal Police during the investigation into Ms Higgins’ rape allegations and was protected by the Harman pledge, meaning it could not be used for anything other than court proceedings.

Auerbach, who left his job at Seven last year, allegedly claimed in his affidavit that Lehrmann was the source of the confidential material.

Lehrmann has denied in court that he is the source of the leaked content.

Auerbach was cross-examined by Lehrmann’s lawyer, Matthew Richardson SC, during which he claimed that Channel Seven covered Lehrmann’s drug and sex worker costs.

Lehrmann and Channel Seven have denied those claims.