Project did not have proof on Higgins claims, says producer.

The Project producer Angus Llewellyn spent a second day on the stand in the defamation case between Bruce Lehrmann and Network 10 / Lisa Wilkinson.

On 19 January 2021, Wilkinson sent a text to Llewellyn saying she had a “huge” story about an “extraordinary cover-up involving Linda Reynolds, Michaelia Cash and the PMO.”

Guardian Australia reports the court heard Wilkinson had been briefed in a telephone call and an email about the so-called cover-up by Higgins’ partner David Sharaz, who was an acquaintance.

Llewellyn, under cross-examination, said he “did not have proof” before the program aired that if Higgins pursued the rape allegation she would lose her job.

Lehrmann’s barrister, Matthew Richardson SC, alslo accused Llewellyn of giving Lehrmann “absolutely minimal time” to respond to Higgins’ accusations and of not making a “genuine effort to obtain information”.

Llewellyn disagreed, saying “I sent him a very detailed request on the Friday and asked for an interview”. The questions were sent late on the Friday afternoon ahead of the program’s broadcast on Monday night and The Project received no reply.

Meanwhile SKY News Australia has also delivered a USB to the court of the recordings of Brittany Higgins’s lawyer Leon Zwier and others in Sydney bar reportedly revealing him discussing how Higgins could respond to cross-examination. Zwier has denied coaching his client through her fiance, David Shiraz.

While under cross-examination, a witness is specifically told not to discuss the case with anyone else.

Zwier has denied coaching his client through her fiance, and told news.com.au in a statement that his remarks were not intended to be passed on to Higgins.

“All my private conversations with David Sharaz and Emma Webster were on the common understanding that Brittany was under cross examination and no one was to talk with her about the substance of her evidence or the manner in which she was giving it,” Zwier said in the statement.

There is no suggestion Higgins was present during the Park Hyatt conversation or that she received advice relating to the topics discussed, or that Zwier intended his advice to be passed on to Higgins.

Bruce Lehrmann has denied raping Higgins and pleaded not guilty to a charge of sexual intercourse without consent. His criminal trial was abandoned due to juror misconduct and the second did not proceed due to prosecutors’ fears for Higgins’ mental health.

The trial continues.

Source: Guardian Australia