The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has investigated Bruce Lehrmann and his former media adviser John Macgowan over an “insane conspiracy theory” relating to the alleged leak of top secret documents.
Daily Mail Australia understands the former Liberal staffer’s temporary interstate residence was raided in June.
The NACC has been investigating rumours that Lehrmann stole documents relating to Australia’s now-defunct submarine deal with France between March and April 2019, around the same time he is accused of raping Brittany Higgins.
He is accused of then passing the top secret documents to Mr Macgowan for sale.
Lehrmann’s lawyer, Zali Burrow, said: ‘The underwater spy games theory appears to be another attempt to assassinate Bruce’s character.
‘The raid ended up being just a nice evening with the officers and Bruce.
‘The NACC bought a round of pizzas while they sat by the fire watching State of Origin.’
The news comes after Macgowan claimed up to 20 NACC officers raided his girlfriend’s home in Earlwood, in Sydney’s central west, in June.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission has raided the homes of Bruce Lehrmann (right) and his former media adviser John Macgowan (left)
The NACC is investigating allegations that Lehrmann (pictured) stole documents about Australia’s defunct submarine deal with France
The squad reportedly included a sniffer dog, two uniformed New South Wales Police officers to secure the house, and an Australian Federal Police officer.
Mr Macgowan believes the “conspiracy” over Lehrmann’s theft of the documents arose from a joke he made during an interview, which he did not realise was being recorded.
He said that during the raid they seized “documents, phones, anything they could get their hands on.”
“The only thing they didn’t attack was my snake tank,” Macgowan said. news.com.au.
Mr Macgowan said officers used paper-sniffing dogs in an attempt to find the documents and even went so far as to raid his girlfriend’s underwear drawer.
Mr Macgowan believes the “conspiracy” over Lehrmann’s theft of the submarine documents arose from a joke he made during an interview.
Mr Macgowan (pictured with Mr Lehrmann) said officers used “paper” sniffer dogs in an attempt to find the documents.
He now wants the NACC to return the three cell phones and laptop that were confiscated from him after he completed a voluntary interview.
“You have to communicate with people to find out when the investigation will be over. I’m sitting here thinking, ‘When is the next raid?'” he said.
“I volunteered to do an interview. There is no truth to that. It was a fabricated story spread by conspiracy theorists on Twitter.”
The search warrant for Mr Macgowan’s home stated that it was based on “reasonable grounds to suspect that they would provide evidence of that alleged offence”.
The National Corruption Watchdog also seized communications between Macgowan and News.com.au in January 2023, when he provided the outlet with a copy of the Moller report.
The Moller Report is a document relating to the investigation into the alleged rape of Ms Higgins.
It was originally prepared for internal police purposes to decide whether charges should be filed.