By Miklos Bolza in Sydney

BRUCE Lehrmann has rejected an allegation he raped Brittany Higgins in a Parliament House office while giving evidence under oath for the first time.

Ms Higgins claims Lehrmann sexually assaulted her in the office of their then-boss, former defence industry minister Linda Reynolds, in the early hours of March 23, 2019.

“Did you sexually assault Brittany Higgins in that office on that evening?” his barrister Steven Whybrow SC asked in the Federal Court on Thursday.

“Absolutely not,” Lehrmann replied.

Under a tense cross-examination by Ten’s barrister Matthew Collins KC, the former political staffer rejected claims he had attempted to kiss Ms Higgins about three weeks earlier during another night out.

“I’m denying that I made any advance to Ms Higgins ever,” he said.

The law student is giving evidence in his defamation hearing against Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson over an item on “The Project” in February 2021 that featured an interview with Ms Higgins.

Lehrmann told Justice Michael Lee that earlier on the night of the alleged rape, he, Ms Higgins and two other colleagues went out for drinks on an “innocuous” social occasion.

The former tobacco lobbyist admitted lying to gain access to Parliament House after hours, saying although he only needed to return to get his keys he told security he was there to drop off documents.

Upon entering Senator Reynolds’ ministerial suite, Lehrmann separated from Ms Higgins and went to work on annotating Question Time folders before leaving to catch an Uber home, the court heard.

He said he had no contact with Ms Higgins and didn’t inquire about her whereabouts after that.

The following Tuesday, Lehrmann was called to the office of Senator Reynolds’ then chief-of-staff Fiona Brown to discuss a “security breach” on Friday.

He was told to pack up his things and not to come back to work.

Under questioning by Dr Collins, Lehrmann insisted another security incident in which he left a highly classified document unattended on a desk in an open office while he went to the kitchen was “minor”.

He suggested by leaving the document face down on the desk, he had “temporarily secured” the top-secret material.

Lehrmann claimed he had mistakenly said there was no alcohol in Senator Reynolds’ office during an interview with the Australian Federal Police in April 2021.

These statements to the AFP were presented as “true and accurate” by Lehrmann’s counsel to the jury during his criminal trial on the rape charge.

But he previously told Ms Brown he and Ms Higgins had returned to the office to drink whiskey on the night of the alleged rape.

Video footage from his phone soon before the incident showed three bottles of whiskey and a bottle of gin on his desk.

In his defamation case, Lehrmann claims that while “The Project” report did not name him, it had “completely destroyed” his reputation.

His cross-examination continues on Friday.

Lehrmann has settled two other defamation proceedings he brought against News.com.au and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation over separate reports about Ms Higgins’ allegations.

The criminal trial in the ACT Supreme Court over Ms Higgins’ rape allegations was derailed by juror misconduct and prosecutors did not seek a second trial because of concerns over her mental health.

A landmark report into the ACT legal system and the Higgins case was released in August, making damning findings against now ex-director of public prosecutions Shane Drumgold over his conduct during the case.

Mr Lehrmann has separately been accused of raping another woman twice in Toowoomba in October 2021.

The presumption of innocence is dead and buried