Bruce Lehrmann wanted to "get lit" on the night former colleague Brittany Higgins went public with allegations he raped her at Parliament House, messaging one friend to ask "got any gear?" and telling another "need bags".
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A series of text messages sent by Mr Lehrmann, a former Liberal Party staffer, were released late on Friday by the Federal Court, where he is suing two media companies and a pair of high-profile journalists for defamation.
Mr Lehrmann alleges news.com.au political editor Samantha Maiden and the website's publisher, News Life Media, defamed him in a February 15, 2021, article that revealed Ms Higgins' rape claims.
He is also pursuing Network Ten and presenter Lisa Wilkinson for damages over an interview with Ms Higgins that aired on The Project later the same day.
Mr Lehrmann has always denied the rape allegations.
All four respondents have signalled their intention to defend the lawsuits by arguing, among other things, that Ms Higgins' rape allegations were true.
On the morning Ms Higgins' claims hit the headlines, one of Mr Lehrmann's friends sent him a link to the news.com.au article and asked "know this chick?"
Mr Lehrmann, who was not named by mainstream media until six months later, replied that he had "worked with her briefly".
He subsequently received a message from a different friend, who wanted to know if he had "any gossip on who the Canberra rape guy is".
"No idea mate in the slightest," Mr Lehrmann wrote back, adding that he had not "gone through" the story or "had any approaches despite still being around then".
However, Mr Lehrmann told this friend the article appeared to be "very slanderous and defamatory".
Mr Lehrmann gave evidence on Thursday that, later the same day, an inquiry from a journalist made him aware he was the man Ms Higgins was accusing of rape.
The topic of his texts subsequently shifted to lawyers, with a friend recommending solicitor Warwick Korn by saying he had "gotten me out of numerous f--- ups".
Mr Lehrmann ultimately went to meet with Mr Korn, telling the court on Thursday he watched The Project during a more than six-hour meeting at the lawyer's office.
He sent "many hundreds" of messages while there, giving evidence much of what he told his then-girlfriend about Mr Korn's advice was "fabricated" to placate her because she was upset.
These included claims Mr Korn had told him a criminal case was "off the cards completely", and the allegation would never "see the light of a courtroom".
When the court released further messages on Friday, it was revealed Mr Lehrmann had also, after 10pm that night, texted a friend to "get here".
"Need bags," he wrote, later adding "lol so let's get lit".
About 20 minutes later, he texted a different friend to ask "you got any gear?"
She quickly replied that she was at home and Mr Lehrmann needed to "keep it clean".
Mr Lehrmann's defamation cases are set to return to court next Thursday as part of his ongoing bid to have Justice Michael Lee grant him an extension of the usual 12-month time limit in which to make a claim for damages.
The 27-year-old only initiated civil proceedings against the media companies and journalists last month, nearly two years after they published the allegedly defamatory stories.
