A court record linking Defense Minister Tomomi Inada and a scandal-tainted nationalist Osaka-based school operator emerged Tuesday, prompting Inada to withdraw an earlier denial of the link, as opposition lawmakers trained their fire on her for making a false statement before the Diet.

The court document, a copy of which was first posted by freelance journalist Tamotsu Sugano to his Twitter account Monday, showed that Inada and her husband, Ryuji Inada, both lawyers, had served as court attorneys in October 2005 for Moritomo Gakuen, the scandal-hit school operator headed by Yasunori Kagoike.

During an Upper House Budget Committee session Monday, Inada had vehemently denied ever serving as a court attorney or legal adviser to either Kagoike or Moritomo Gakuen.