Bruce Lehrmann fears NACC ‘Christmas raid’, Federal Court hears

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Lehrmann said he was worried about waiting for the hearing in February.

“I am concerned about the refusal of legal funding [that] I have no legal representation and these investigations are still ongoing, as far as I know,” Lehrmann said.

“The orders I’m seeking… do not prevent the NACC from opening a new investigation. I’m just concerned.” [about] “I’m waiting until February in case there’s some kind of Christmas raid or something.”

He said he would “correspond with the NACC within the next few days” and “make some commitment to take no further action.”

In a document filed with the court, Lehrmann said the NACC executed two search warrants on him on June 5 last year.

He said it related to an investigation into “trivial, James Bond-like allegations” that he had used “official” information collected on March 26, 2019, and described by him as “French submarine secrets”, for “financial, personal and professional purposes”.

Lehrmann, who previously worked in the office of then-Liberal defense industry minister Linda Reynolds, claims he was questioned over these allegations and a second NACC investigation.

In a separate court fight, Lehrmann asked the Full Court of the Federal Court to overturn the damning contempt loss, including Judge Michael Lee’s key finding that he raped his then-colleague Brittany Higgins in Reynolds’ Parliament House office in 2019. The appeals court reserved its decision.

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