Murky and murkier

The last few weeks have seen a number of post-trial developments exposing the burlesque of justice that was the prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann, formerly charged with the rape of the ‘evasive, uncooperative and manipulative’ Brittany Higgins, as an AFP document describes her.

Bettina Arndt has just published an excellent overview. A sample:

….What is remarkable is the lack of media scrutiny into [prosecutor] Drumgold’s claim that he was dropping the case because of Higgins’ mental health. The media cheer squad for Higgins dutifully reported her happily attending her degree ceremony within weeks of the trial, and her boyfriend boasting that she had written four academic papers during the court proceedings. She was photographed holidaying in the Maldives and announcing her plans to do a new degree. Most extraordinary of all, she used social media to offer to appear as a witness in the defamation cases launched by Lehrmann.

Social media was full of speculation about this miraculous recovery, but such troubling questions rarely featured in the legacy media’s celebratory stories applauding her ongoing achievements…

There is more, much more, not least the involvement of Finance Minister Katy Gallagher, who might be answering some very interesting questions if the same reporters who so eagerly spruiked the initial allegations thought of themselves as journalists rather than partisan publicists.

Bettina’s summation can be read in full here.