Bruce Lehrmann has told police he received a mysterious email titled “Coming for you” in the days before he was publicly accused of raping his parliamentary colleague Brittany Higgins.
The email, from an address bearing Lehrmann’s name and which he claimed was not operated by him, was tendered to the Federal Court on Friday as part of defamation proceedings brought by the former Liberal staffer.
Lehrmann also told police he received another email that was subsequently deleted but contained the subject line “Truth will come out”.
The existing emails reference former Australian of the Year Grace Tame, after she appeared on television to speak about her experience of sexual abuse.
“A woman spoke about what happened to her tonight, and she’s Australian of the year,” the email said.
“I want you to think about what you did, and what might be around the corner for you.”
Dated January 25, 2021, the email was taken to police several days later by Lehrmann.
It goes on to reference Parliament House in Canberra, where Higgins alleged she was raped by Lehrmann following a work function in March 2019.
The charges against Lehrmann – who maintains his innocence – were dropped in December 2021, after a jury was discharged because outside material was brought into the jury room and following concerns about Higgins’ mental wellbeing.
“How many people know what you did, and how many did you tell,” the email said.
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“How many cameras are in Parliament House and how many tracked down the vision.”
It concludes, “It’s going to be a magical 2021”.
Lehrmann is attempting to sue Network Ten and News Corp over interviews with Ms Higgins which he claims defamed him.
Former host of The Project, Lisa Wilkinson, and news.com.au political editor, Samantha Maiden, are both listed as respondents in the lawsuits.
This week, lawyers for the outlets argued Lehrmann’s lawsuit was filed outside a required 12-month window.
Lehrmann’s barrister Matthew Richardson SC argued it would not have been reasonable for his client to launch the defamation cases sooner as he was facing ongoing criminal proceedings.
Court documents showed Lehrmann texted colleagues and friends about Ms Higgins’ appearance on The Project, suggesting he could be “up for millions” of dollars in defamation damages.
Federal Court Justice Michael Lee has reserved his decision on whether to extend the one-year limitation period and allow the case to proceed.
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