Lisa Wilkinson’s Lawyer Reveals Bruce Lehrmann’s Frantic Text Messages After Brittany Higgins Rape Allegations

Lisa Wilkinson’s lawyer has revealed that Bruce Lehrmann sent a series of desperate text messages to a woman to tell her he was “looking for a little money” the day Brittany Higgins went public with allegations that he raped her.

Mr Lehrman is suing Wilkinson and Channel 10 for libel over his interview on The Project on February 21, 2021, where Ms Higgins first alleged she was raped by “a male colleague” at Parliament House. two years before.

He also launched a lawsuit against news.com.au journalist Samantha Maiden and her parent company News Life Media, owned by News Corp, over an online article making the same allegations.

He was not named in the broadcast or article, but his claim statement argues that his identity would have become known in political circles and could be further ascertained when he was accused of sexual assault and publicly named in August 2021.

During an interlocutory hearing in Sydney Federal Court on Thursday morning, Wilkinson’s lawyer, Sue Chrysanthou, told Judge Michael Lee that she would rely on a series of text messages between Lehrmann and a woman named Greta Sinclair.

The messages were sent by Mr. Lehrmann on February 21, 2021, the day the allegations against him were issued. Ms Chrysanthou said they showed Mr Lehrmann’s “state of mind” at the time.

The court heard that Mr. Lehrmann has been speaking with attorney Warwick Korn before and during the time he is sending messages to Ms. Sinclair. What worried him most was that he would be identified as the alleged rapist of Ms. Higgins.

“Warwick doesn’t think they’ll name me,” the first message read. ‘If I am then Channel Ten, as well as the Government Finance Department, are willing to earn a lot of money. ‘

“I’m just getting guarantees,” he continued. I want to be sure of things.

After further discussions with his lawyer, Mr. Lehrman wrote: “Criminal is completely out of the question.”

Referring to the rape allegation, he said: “One, it’s false, and second, they don’t have anything.”

While not mentioned in Wilkinson’s interview with Higgins (couple pictured above), her claim statement argues that her identity would have been known in political circles.

Higgins pictured speaking at Women’s Justice on March 4 last year

“But we may have a civil lawsuit,” he wrote, referring to possible defamation proceedings against the network.

‘And tonight, (Mr. Korn) said I will not see the light of a courtroom. ‘

Mr Lehrmann later revealed that he had ‘two lawyers now’, and that another legal professional told him ‘I want some money’.

The text messages were read to the court as part of Ms. Chrysanthou’s request to oppose the extension of the limitation period.

Applicants normally have 12 months from the date of publication to file a defamation case. Lehrmann waited two years to file the defamation suit. His lawyers will argue that it was unreasonable for him to file a lawsuit within the first year.

Wilkinson, News.com.au and Channel Ten have opposed the extension. They will argue that it was reasonable for Mr. Lehrmann to initiate a defamation case within the first year of the issuance of the indictments against him.