The political fallout over how MPs from the major parties handled former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins’ assault claims before she went public continued yesterday. Liberal Linda Reynolds, Higgins’ boss at the time, sent a defamation notice to Labor’s Tanya Plibersek over comments that the assault was “covered up” (paywall). Finance Minister/ Katy Gallagher told the Senate she knew of the allegation before it was reported in the media – a suggestion she’d previously shot down. But she says she did “absolutely nothing” with the information, including seeking to gain political advantage. Former PM Scott Morrison also made a statement to parliament yesterday, saying he did not deliberately get it wrong in 2021 when he said he and his former staffer Fiona Brown (Higgins/Bruce Lehrmann’s manager in 2019) had spoken about the matter. It followed Brown’s recollection of how it all went down (paywall), her lack of opportunity to talk to Morrison about it, and her sense that she took the fall for the scandal. Several pollies, including Tassie Senator Jacqui Lambie and Liberal MP Bridget Archer, have called on their colleagues to keep politics out of it.