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Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold,SC,announced last week Bruce Lehrmann’s retrial would not go ahead.Credit:Rhett Wyman

He also reportedly wrote that he felt investigators “clearly aligned with the successful defence of this matter” during the trial.

The chief prosecutor reportedly called for a public inquiry to examine “both political and police conduct” relating to the case and suggested that members of the Australian Federal Police had a “strong desire for this matter not to proceed to charge”.

The Australian Federal Police Association issued a statement on Thursday in which it said it “wants to make it extremely clear that the desperate attempts to smear” the AFP and policing were untested.

The union’s president,Alex Caruana,called for a full inquiry,saying it should also assess the conduct of the DPP,the ACT Victims of Crime Commissioner and ACT Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury.

Caruana said the police union would file a formal complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner about the possibility of a Freedom of Information breach by Drumgold.

“The FOI from the ACT DPP toThe Guardian,to our knowledge,has no redactions,and it includes personal details of officers involved in the investigation. ACT Policing was not consulted on the release of information and its members’ details.”

The letter was released under FOI laws toThe Guardian but has not been released publicly on the DPP’s website as it is supposed to be under disclosure obligations.

This masthead has not been able to independently verify the contents of the letter but when contacted,Drumgold said he would endeavour to have the letter released “tomorrow”. He declined to comment on the claims published inThe Guardian.

Brittany Higgins leaves the ACT Supreme Court after the rape trial of Bruce Lehrmann was aborted due to juror misconduct.Credit:Rhett Wyman

Lehrmann pleaded not guilty to one charge of sexual intercourse without consent. The first trial was cut short on October 27 after 12 days of evidence and submissions in the ACT Supreme Court and five days of deliberations because of juror misconduct.

Drumgold reportedly then sent the letter to the ACT police chief after the first trial was abandoned and claimed “key AFP members have had a strong desire for this matter not to proceed to charge”,and that he wanted to “protect the integrity of the pending[re]trial”.

But on December 2 the retrial was abandoned and the charges against Lehrmann dropped because of serious concerns about Higgins’ mental health.

In a statement,the AFP said it was “aware that the Office of DPP under FOI has released the letter in full toThe Guardian”.

“The ACT DPP has requested a public inquiry in relation to this matter. As such it would be inappropriate to provide any further comment in relation to any aspects surrounding this matter including commentary about the letter from the ACT DPP,” a spokesman said.

“ACT Policing will continue to work cooperatively with the Office of DPP to ensure the safety and security of the Canberra community.”

The federal police have a division assigned to conduct local matters in the ACT.

This masthead has confirmed with the office of Rattenbury that a public inquiry has not been ordered at this stage.

Lawyers for Higgins have given notice that they will sue former Liberal ministers Linda Reynolds and Michaelia Cash as well as the Commonwealthfor about $3 million.

Lehrmann is also contemplating defamation proceedings,according to the ABC.

Representatives for Higgins and Lehrmann have been contacted for comment.

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news,views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley.Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter here.

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