The cavalcade of leaks over the last week of previously confidential audio recordings,text messages and other information about the matter was exactly what Higgins feared when she initially resisted handing her phone over to the police.
Higgins accused Lehrmann of raping her,a charge he vehemently denies. The trial was later aborted and the charges dropped. Lehrmann is now suing media outlets for defamation.
The leaks have sought to shine an unflattering spotlight on the main players and the journalists involved in reporting the original rape allegations in February 2021,and on Higgins and especially her fiance,David Sharaz.
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In the exchanges,Sharaz and Higgins discuss how to handle the TV interview on Network Ten’sThe Project,which went to air on February 15,2021,how to keep the story running in the media,which journalists to approach and,crucially,which Labor MPs – including Albanese,Gallagher and Tanya Plibersek – to discuss the story with.
The texts reveal how the sausages got made,and it isn’t always pleasant.
At one point,Sharaz reportedly observes “I still hate that c---” in reference to former prime minister Scott Morrison.