Brittany Higgins‘ fiancé fired off a tweet taunting the journalistic balance of his former colleague during Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation hearing – but he quickly deleted it.
Daily Mail Australia has obtained an inflammatory Twitter post David Sharaz wrote in response to a tweet by Sky News reporter Caroline Marcus on Thursday afternoon.
Ms Marcus had been tweeting updates from an interlocutory hearing in the NSW Federal Court about Bruce Lehrmann‘s lawsuit against Lisa Wilkinson, Channel 10 and news.com.au.
At about 1.45pm, while the hearing was still going, Ms Marcus wrote a post relaying exactly what was heard in court.
She told her followers that Wilkinson’s application to access almost 40,000 pages of data from Mr Lehrmann’s phone dating back to 2017 was rejected by Justice Michael Lee, who labelled the application a ‘fishing expedition’.
An hour later, Mr Sharaz responded in a now-deleted tweet: ‘I’m sure – because you’re so balanced in your reporting – you’ll also offer a tweet soon highlighting that Lehrmann has failed to call his own lawyer to backup his testimony on the stand.’
The pair worked at Sky News between 2018 and 2020, before Mr Sharaz left for a role as a media advisor with the Prime Minister’s office.
Bruce Lehrmann is pictured outside the Federal Court in Sydney on Thursday alongside Caroline Marcus, who was reporting for Sky News (both above)
During the interlocutory hearing in the NSW Federal Court, David Sharaz fired off a tweet and criticised Caroline Marcus (pictured). He then deleted the tweet
Mr Sharaz was referring to Mr Lehrmann’s former lawyer Warwick Korn, who was due to give evidence on Thursday but did not end up taking the stand.
Justice Lee then asked Mr Lehrmann’s current barrister Matthew Richardson SC if agreed it was possible to infer that Mr Korn would not be questioned because his testimony ‘would not assist’ his case.
Ms Marcus was also criticised by Ms Higgins for her coverage on the first day of the hearing, on March 16.
The journalist tweeted: ‘Bruce Lehrmann tells court he was ”outraged” by Brittany Higgins’, The Project and news.com.au interviews and wanted to ‘fight back’ against the media.
‘Told his then girlfriend he was ”a pawn” in a ”bigger political hatchet job”.’
Ms Higgins took issue with Ms Marcus’ emphasis on Mr Lehrmann’s allegations of a ‘political hatchet job’, responding to the tweet with a reminder that News Corp – Sky’s parent company – is part of the lawsuit.
She said: ‘You realise NewsCorp is being sued as well? By your own assertion it means your own organisation was a part of this ‘political hatchet job’.
‘Also, I was a Liberal staffer and my partner worked at Sky News. I literally don’t understand this whole narrative.’
David Sharaz (pictured with Brittany Higgins) used to work as a journalist at Sky News, before he left to become a media advisor
Ms Marcus explained the assertions were not hers, she was simply reporting what was said on the stand.
Ms Higgins hit back: ‘Come on. Let’s just reflect at your ongoing framing of this case in tweets since the criminal case.
‘Keep cherry picking away but know that the NewsCorp lawyers have filed a truth defence.’
Ms Marcus responded: ‘Er yes, I’ve been reporting that all day’.
The comments Ms Marcus was referring to in her tweet were made by Mr Lehrmann to his then-girlfriend, Greta Sinclair.
Ms Sinclair was distraught over the televised accusations.
Mr Lehrmann told the court he placated her by suggesting his lawyer had told him that he was a ‘pawn’ and ‘part of a bigger political hatchet job, and that he would get ‘millions’ in defamation.
Ms Marcus was also criticised by Ms Higgins over her coverage of the trial (pictured)
During cross-examination, Mr Lehrmann admitted to Ten’s lawyer Matthew Collins KC that his lawyer, Mr Korn, never said that. He made it up to comfort her.
He filed defamation lawsuits against Channel 10, Lisa Wilkinson, and news.com.au in February this year over two stories where Ms Higgins alleged a ‘male colleague’ had raped her in 2019.
The broadcast and online article were published on February 15, 2021.
Mr Lehrmann was not named in the broadcast or article, but his statement of claim argues his identity would have been known in political circles.
He has always denied the allegations.
The interlocutory hearing was about why it took him two years to file the defamation lawsuit.
Applicants normally have 12 months after publication to file a defamation case, but Mr Lehrmann’s case was filed two years later.
His legal team have argued that it was unreasonable for him to launch the case any earlier.
Justice Lee is yet to decide whether the case will go ahead.