Senator Linda Reynolds breaks her silence over bitter legal war with Brittany ... trends now
Linda Reynolds has pledged to pursue her defamation case against Brittany Higgins, despite an impassioned plea from the former staffer's fiancé David Sharaz to drop the matter.
Senator Reynolds launched two defamation proceedings in the WA Supreme Court against Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz over social media posts published in 2022 and 2023 that she claimed damaged her reputation.
The Liberal senator said the posts implied she pressured Ms Higgins, her former junior staffer, not to pursue her rape complaint with police in 2019 and that she interfered with Bruce Lehrmann's rape trial in 2022.
In April, a Federal Court judge found on a balance of probabilities that Ms Higgins was raped by Mr Lehrmann in Ms Reynolds' office in Parliament House in 2019, but that no-one tried to stop her from filing a police complaint.
Mr Sharaz's attempt to resolve his own case with the senator via mediation on Tuesday was unsuccessful and he was forced to concede defeat, citing financial issues.
In the middle of court proceedings, he posted a statement on social media revealing he had settled his own matter and urged Senator Reynolds to drop the matter against Ms Higgins.
On Wednesday, Ms Reynolds confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that she would not drop the case, citing 'unwarranted and hateful abuse' she received as a result of Ms Higgins' allegations.
David Sharaz is pictured with Brittany Higgins outside the WA Supreme Court in March
Linda Reynolds is pictured with her lawyer Martin Bennett outside the court in March
She said: 'Since 2021 my staff and I have been subjected to unwarranted and hateful abuse as a result of allegations Ms Higgins made about my conduct, a primary allegation of political coverup Justice Lee recently found to be entirely false.'
'Ms Higgins' and Mr Sharaz's concerted attack on me, supported by Labor in Federal Parliament, has taken an enormous toll on my physical and mental health, and that of my staff.
'Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz continued to defame and disparage me on social media, raising other allegations which have led to these court actions.'
Ms Reynolds said she welcomed WA Supreme Court Justice Paul Tottle's decision on Tuesday to keep the July trial dates for her defamation hearing against Ms Higgins.
'I look forward to the trial so that we can bring an end to this dispute and move on,' she said.
The senator also said Mr Sharaz's decision to release a statement during court proceedings on Tuesday was 'calculated'.
In his statement, Mr Sharaz said: 'Despite our best efforts Linda Reynolds has not accepted attempts to resolve this matter through mediation and Brittany may
