Bruce Lehrmann has launched defamation actions against media outlets Ten Network and News Corp. Australia’s News Life Media for their coverage of his trial over rape allegations.
Journalists Lisa Wilkinson and Samantha Maiden were also named in his statement of claim, which was filed in the Federal Court on Feb. 7.
Lehrmann received intense media scrutiny last year after he was accused of raping fellow Liberal Party staff member Brittany Higgins in the office of then-Minister Linda Reynolds.
Lehrmann has consistently denied the allegations while maintaining there was never any sexual interaction between the two.
The trial was delayed several times before the Australia Capital Territory’s (ACT) Director of Public Prosecutions, Shane Drumgold, abandoned the charges in December 2022….