Brittany Higgins and David Sharaz launch a devastating attack on Crikey

Brittany Higgins and her fiancé David Sharaz have lashed out at a news website after publishing an article questioning her taxpayer-funded payout of up to $3 million — leading the fringe publication to remove the story.

The former Liberal Party staffer launched legal action against the Morrison administration after she raised allegations that her then colleague Bruce Lehrmann sexually assaulted her in Senator Linda Reynolds’ office at Parliament House in 2019.

The trial was aborted due to misconduct by a juror and the allegations against Mr. Lehrmann, which he has consistently denied, were later withdrawn.

However, Ms Higgins was awarded the hefty sum by the incoming Albanian government after she and the Commonwealth reached an agreement on her personal injury claim in December 2022.

With the Labor government coming under fire over whether the payment was politically motivated, Ms Higgins has slammed a story in Crikey, a small subscription-based left-wing website, that the case was ‘in the public interest’ and Australians are ‘entitled to read the texts that led to it’.

In an opinion published Friday, journalist Guy Rundle argued that Ms Higgins belongs to a ‘well-connected network’ and believed that the compensation was being sped up by Labor for its own political ends.

Some parts of the piece are too offensive to republish.

Crikey has since removed the article from his website and apologized to readers in a humiliating turn of events.

Rundle’s article said that while Ms Higgins ‘might still be a victim of a crime’, leaked texts suggest…. she and her partner ‘engaged a sustained, planned and strategized media campaign around her allegations’.

“In general, we should leave our wits about these matters at the office door. However, we don’t have to leave our brains at the security entrance in the little plastic tray, with our keys and phone,” Rundle wrote.

“Higgins and co were doing what their role as political consultants had trained them to do: they strategized with their ability to take maximum advantage…

“We have a right to read the texts that led to it.”

The last time Crikey was in the news was when then-editor-in-chief, Peter Fray, had to apologize for harassing winners at a major journalism awards event.

Ms Higgins quickly took to Twitter to condemn the article, which referred to published CCTV footage of Ms Higgins and Mr Lehrmann walking through parliament building security on the night in question.

“We don’t have to leave our brains at the security entrance…” Ms Higgins wrote.

‘Wow. Spicy but disgusting given the context.’

Sharaz quickly followed through, tagging Crikey’s parent company boss, Will Hayward, in the comments.

“@mrwillhayward Are you glad to have this victim-blaming gal on your website?” He wrote.

Fans and critics alike flocked to comment on Ms Higgins’ tweet, with some pledging to boycott Crikey, while others claiming that “the real victims are taxpayers.”

In the article, Rundle claimed that the case was not a matter of public interest until Ms Higgins received payment, which he said gave the impression that the procedural process was biased.

Rundle also speculated on how Ms. Higgins might have used the money, suggesting she may have spent designer shoes.

Referring to an article titled “I Wouldn’t Walk a Mile in Brittany Higgins’ Shoes,” written by his colleague Michael Bradley, Rundle suggested that it would hardly be possible for Bradley to do that, since “she might be worth $5,000.” Louboutins are’.

Crikey later apologized and removed the story in an embarrassing U-turn.

A statement on its website said: ‘Crikey today made the decision to remove a piece written by Guy Rundle claiming that the consultation process over Brittany Higgins’ compensation was “astonishingly fast”. That’s not right – Higgins filed her claim in March 2022 while the Morison government was still in office, and it wasn’t settled until December 2022, seven months after the election of the current government.

The piece also repeats the false claim that the “figure is believed to be $3 million.” There is no factual basis for the $3 million figure; Higgins has said publicly that that figure was her initial claim, but the final figure was much lower than that.

In addition to these factual errors, the tone of the piece fell short of Crikey’s journalistic standards, crucial given that it is about writing about allegations of sexual assault.

“We firmly believe in promoting a space that publishes a multitude of opinions, and as editors, we regularly publish opinion pieces that we personally can’t agree with. But this piece doesn’t fall into that category and we regret publishing it. We have consistently pointed out News Corp’s flawed coverage of this issue, only to make the same mistake ourselves.

“We apologize to Brittany Higgins and our readers and we will keep you posted on an ongoing conversation about this issue.”

The Labor Party has kept the damage in check in recent weeks as it came under scrutiny for its handling of Ms Higgins’ allegations.

Earlier this month, an audio recording was released of Mr Sharaz and journalist Lisa Wilkinson brainstorming politicians who could potentially add weight to Ms Higgins’ allegations and the perceived culture of misogyny within the Liberal Party.

The recording was made during a meeting between Ms Higgins, Mr Sharaz, Wilkinson and Channel 10 producer Angus Llewellyn, in January 2021 – just weeks before she aired bombshell sexual assault allegations on The Project.

Leaked texts broadcast earlier this week also reveal that Mr Sharaz claimed to have had a secret meeting with Labor Senator Katy Gallagher four days before the interview screened on 15 February 2021.

In the lyrics, he claimed to have detailed Ms. Higgins’s allegations against Mr. Lehrmann and gave Senator Gallagher a transcript of the interview.

Senator Gallagher, who is now Treasury Secretary, has denied that she misled Parliament in 2021 by saying she had no knowledge of Ms Higgins’ rape allegations before they were made public.

Mr Lehrmann’s trial was aborted due to juror misconduct and prosecutors have not sought a new trial, citing concerns over Ms Higgins’ mental health.

The ACT is now conducting an investigation into the investigation and prosecution.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Crikey for comment.