Bruce Lehrmann breaks silence in first televised interview on Channel 7’s Spotlight
Bruce Lehrmann has doubled down on claims he was not intimate with Brittany Higgins, who he previously faced a charge of raping before it was dropped.
Bruce Lehrmann has denied all accusations of raping or being intimate with former political staffer Brittany Higgins in his first televised interview.
The rape charge, which was dropped after Lehrmann’s trial was aborted due to jury misconduct, dated back to March 2019 while they both worked for former defence minister Linda Reynolds.
Mr Lehrmann has consistently denied the accusations made against him.
The Spotlight episode showed CCTV footage of Mr Lehrmann and Ms Higgins at a Canberra bar, The Dock, with colleagues on March 22, before they are seen entering Ms Reynolds’ office at 1.47am. Mr Lehrmann was recorded leaving Parliament House at 2.30am.
During the interview with 7Spotlight’s Liam Bartlett, Mr Lehrmann said he had been “kicked to a kerb” by colleagues.
“It just infuriates me,” he said.
“I’m seeing friends of mine block me on Facebook and remove me from group chats.
“That was one of the worst things to see, people were dropping me because I was politically inconvenient to be associated with.”
He said he has been forced to “dip into” his mum’s superannuation and is sometimes given money by his uncle. Asked by Bartlett whether his mum believes him, Mr Lehrmann said: “Yes”.
He went on to say his uncle would often give him cash.
“Every Saturday he tries to win on the horses and if he has a big win he’ll throw me some cash here and there (to) keep me afloat,” he said.
“So it’s been very tough.”
Lehrmann grilled on Higgins detail
A terse moment during the interview happened when Mr Lehrmann was grilled over why he returned to Parliament House, and why he didn’t check on Ms Higgins who was in Ms Reynolds’ office.
They had shared an Uber back to the office, with Mr Lehrmann claiming he had to return to fetch his keys.
“I had assumed that she (Brittany Higgins) was also there to do some work in her capacity as a media advisor,” Mr Lehrmann told Bartlett.
“My mind was focused on getting my keys, noting down what I needed to note down and getting back to my girlfriend who had called a number of times”.
Asked multiple times why he didn’t check on Ms Higgins who he claims had gone to Ms Reynold’s office, he maintained he was making notes to prepare for Question Time.
“If we follow your line about being a gentleman, I would have thought the least you could do is just pop your head, take your two seconds and say: ‘Are you right have you finished because I’m going… do you want to just be dropped off at home?’” Bartlett quizzed.
Bartlett also asked why he was working on notes for question time, when it was days away.
Defending his actions, Mr Lehrmann said: “It was her first question time that she was about to step into”.
Lehrmann lashes Higgins photo
The one-time staffer is also pressed on how Ms Higgins was found naked on Ms Reynold’s couch, given Mr Lehrmann has denied raping her or them being intimate together.
Mr Lehrmann said: “That is a great question. I mean, I don’t know. I can’t talk to her because I never saw her again. That was news to me, with the rest of the country.”
Bartlett countered his response, and said: “What, disrobing on her own? Is that how she ends up naked?”
“You can see the contradiction in this.
“She’s naked on a couch, but here you are acting like a Buddhist monk, making post-it note stickers for a minister.”
He’s also asked about a photo of a bruise which the court in Mr Lehrmann’s trial had heard Ms Higgins received.
Mr Lehrmann denied he was involved in the incident.
Lehrmann makes suicide admission
Mr Lehrmann also spoke about the day the first media article was published on news.com.au by political journalist Samantha Maiden. While he was not identified, he said he was called into the office of his boss at British American Tobacco – where Mr Lehrmann was working in a government relations capacity – and suspended “pending an internal review.
He described
“(My boss) said that she’d heard from government sources that I was the alleged rapist,” he said.
He also spoke about getting suicidal ideations, after Ms Higgins’ interview with Lisa Wilkinson aired on The Project.
“I went I went off the deep end so to speak, in sort of 24 to 48 hours after afterwards,” he said.
Asked why he didn’t want to fight the allegations, Mr Lehrmann felt like he had already been convicted by the media.
“I’ve made arrangements to go. My mum was going to be okay, she (was going to) get my superannuation,” he said.
Mr Lehrmann described it as a “low point but a turning point”. He ended up checking into the Royal North Shore Hospital, where he received “clinical help”.
“I just thought that’s a pretty weak way to go to go. I think I should have a stab at trying to fight this.”
‘Why don’t you sue her personally for defamation?’
Barlett also asked whether Mr Lehrmann would sue Ms Higgins for defamation, which he said was “a possibility”.
“I’m not afraid of it. I haven’t ruled it out,” he said.
“But I’m not cognisant of the fact it’s not a good look. (To) kick someone when they’re down.”
In the final moments of Mr Lehrmann’s interview, he revealed his lawyers didn’t want him to appear on Spotlight.
However, he told Bartlett he was “going to shy away from having my say,” and claimed it wouldn’t be the “last time” people heard from him.
“I know the lawyers don’t want me to say anything but we’ve had the trial, the charge has been dropped, and I think we’ve had enough sh*t shoved down our throats.
“It’s time for a bit of setting the story straight I suppose.”
Mr Lehrmann concluded the interview, and said there was a “bit more to come yet”.
“I think the fire has just been burning so much that I think it’s beware the man who’s got nothing to lose.”
Lehrmann ‘breaks his silence’
The segment was billed as the former Liberal staffer “breaking his silence” after he faced a charge of raping Ms Higgins inside the office of former defence minister Linda Reynolds. The high-profile trial was aborted due to jury misconduct and the charge was subsequently dropped.
On Tuesday, Mr Lehrmann discontinued defamation action against News Life media and news.com.au journalist Samantha Maiden following a resolution being reached between the parties. The other defendants remain in the case.
Mr Lehrmann was not named in the reports but claims he was nevertheless identified by the media companies.
Mr Lehrmann’s first media interview was with The Australian in March this year, where he said he was studying law, and had intentions of becoming a criminal barrister.
“I’m hellbent on, you know, I don’t want to stuff around being a solicitor, I want to get there to the Bar and be a barrister and help some of these people out there who have been done over the system,” he said.
“There’s so many aspects legally speaking that lawyers fundamentally, if they go back to their learnings in law school, they should be absolutely climbing the wall and be outraged.”
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