Lachlan Murdoch alleges Crikey hired marketing firm to turn legal threat into subscription drive

News Corp co-chair's lawyer tells federal court she intends to show Crikey did not republish article for public interest reasons

• Follow our Australia news live blog for the latest updates
• Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast

Crikey hired a marketing company to capitalise on a legal threat from Lachlan Murdoch in order to drive subscriptions, the co-chair of News Corporation has alleged in the federal court.

Murdoch launched defamation proceedings in August against the independent news site over an article published in June that named the Murdoch family as an unindicted co-conspirator" in the US Capitol attack. The trial has been set down for March 2023 but the parties are in dispute over pretrial matters.

Sign up for Guardian Australia's free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup