During his first TV interview on 7NEWS Spotlight yesterday, Bruce Lehrmann strenuously denied the allegations by Brittany Higgins that he had raped her at Parliament House. Source: Thinneke/Wikimedia
Bruce Lehrmann, the formal liberal staffer who was accused of sexually assaulting Brittany Higgins, has said that he has not ruled out personally suing Higgins for defamation.
Lehrmann noted the possibility during his interview on 7NEWS Spotlight — his first television interview since Higgins had accused him of raping her at Parliament House in 2019.
The trial against Lehrmann was abandoned last October due to juror misconduct. No findings were made against him, with Higgins and her lawyers ruling out a retrial due to the “unacceptable risk” it would put on her mental health.
During his interview yesterday, Lehrmann continued to strenuously deny the allegations that Higgins made, but understood that many people still did not believe him.
“I accept that there’s going to be 50 per cent of the country, probably more, that thinks I’m a rapist,” he said during the program.
According to Lehrmann, during the night of the alleged sexual assault, he and Higgins had no further contact after entering Senator Linda Reynold’s office, as each were on opposite sides of the office with a wall separating the pair.
He said he was trying to be “a gentleman” by assisting Higgins to travel to Parliament House.
Higgins however, claims she had not intended to return to Parliament house, instead believing the shared Uber would take her home.
Lehrmann has already settled a claim against News Life Media and journalist Samantha Maiden regarding coverage about him.
He is currently suing Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson for an interview with Higgins on Ten’s The Project, as well as ABC for its broadcast of a speech Higgins made at the National Press Club in early 2022.
Lehrmann stated that his motivation regarding the defamation cases were made to reduce the impact of the allegations made against him.
“I don’t want to be known as the guy who could have, would have, allegedly raped Brittany Higgins”, he said.
“That’s a tag that’s out there now, and I don’t have the court system to remove that tag any more.”
According to a statement for a Seven spokesperson, Bruce Lehrmann was not paid for the interview.
