(Via Washington Times) Rolling Stone has confirmed for the first time in a court filing that a University of Virginia sexual assault victim advocate, who also served on an Obama administration White House task force, introduced the student who became the centerpiece of the magazine’s now-retracted story about a gang rape on campus.

The move could open the door for the magazine to try to shift blame to the university for a journalism debacle that continues to reverberate across the country.

Rolling Stone’s legal filing late last week came in response to a $7.5 million libel lawsuit filed by U.Va. Dean Nicole Eramo, who claims she was unfairly depicted as the “chief villain” in the now discredited article about a woman nicknamed “Jackie” who claimed she was gang-raped at a fraternity. Police who investigated the claim said they found no evidence of such an attack. (read more)