Porter's current actions are the thing bringing him down now. Not past allegations.
Porter has shown poor judgement and tactics in this issue. A hyper-aggressive legal approach and sense of entitlement is evident, which has damaged his reputation permanently.
Employing a senior barrister who had given legal advice to a key defence witness was unwise. But he knew that would have got inside the heads of the defence team and unsettled the witness. Then having that barrister target that witness with an aggressive legal letter warning her of a possible $150,000 legal bill, according to media reports, made it clear that he was now intent on damaging witnesses speaking for the defence. His barrister then compared the alleged rape victim's friends to a cult, and immediately conservative media and a social media campaign attacked those friends by name (including here on HotCopper).
Yesterday, Justice Thomas Thawley called out the poor judgement by Porter and his legal team. A "fair minded person" would say it was wrong for Sue Chrysanthou SC to act for Porter when she was privy to confidential legal advice for a defence witness. Chrysanthou acknowledged Porter had known this could happen, and other lawyers advised her it was unwise and possibly unethical. But Porter wanted her, and she liked the media coverage.
My guess is Porter will continue to be hyper-aggressive. If the defence witnesses continue to be attacked by conservative media, that indicates he is intent on destroying any who oppose him. If not, there is a chance that Porter has finally realised he needs to stop making poor decisions and rethink his approach to the law - and public life.
