The activist that introduced false University of Virginia rape accuser “Jackie” to the Rolling Stone reporter that wrote the disgraced “frathouse gang rape” article still serves on Democratic governor’s Terry McAuliffe’s official sexual assault task force.
The Daily Caller previously reported that UVA employee Emily Renda made a number of White House visits to serve on the president’s sexual assault task force with White House staffers, where she crafted official White House documents as recently as April.
After national sororities decided to prohibit UVA sorority girls from attending fraternity bid parties this weekend (for the girls’ own safety), TheDC reached out to Renda for her thoughts on this policy. Renda declined to comment, instead offering the names of some student activists who opposed the national sororities’ actions.
Renda told TheDC that nobody expressed any concern about her continued participation on McAuliffe’s sexual assault task force, which she was appointed to in September. Renda continued to participate on the task force even after introducing “Jackie” to disgraced Rolling Stone reporter Sabrina Rubin Erdely.
“No, no one has to my knowledge,” Renda said.
And finally, Emily Renda for the prevention subcommittee of @GovernorVA's campus sexual violence task force pic.twitter.com/d9bm0Tq7hf
— AG Mark Herring (@AGMarkHerring) January 8, 2015
Renda played a pivotal role in the discredited Rolling Stone story about an alleged gang rape at a UVA fraternity party, and her judgment and credibility in the aftermath of the article’s publication could be fairly scrutinized as Renda continues to participate on official government task forces.
“You figure into the article as a survivor, activist and mentor/support for Jackie,” Erdely told Renda in an email.
In fact, as TheDC’s Chuck Ross reported, Renda noticed inaccuracies in Erdely’s article but did not bring her concerns to public attention immediately after the article was published. Among other discrepancies, “Jackie” told Renda that she was gang-raped by five men, whereas Erdely reported that seven men raped her.
McAuliffe’s office did not return a request for comment.