Trump Judicial Appointee Appears in Epstein Files Advising Uncle

A federal appeals court judge appointed by President Donald Trump advised her uncle, who faced sexual misconduct allegations, prior to her judicial appointment, according to materials released related to the Justice Department’s investigation of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The materials released Jan. 30 include an email exchange between Rebecca Taibleson, who was an assistant US attorney at the time, and her uncle, former Arizona State Professor Lawrence Krauss. In it, she advises him about his settlement agreement with the university, following an investigation that concluded Krauss had groped a woman.

“Hope this helps. What a headache,” Taibleson, whom Trump appointed to the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit last year, writes in an email dated Nov. 19, 2018. In her email, Taibleson advised Krauss on what the settlement calls for after the university agreed to end its disciplinary process against him. At the time he remained on paid leave until his retirement, which he took the following year.

Krauss forwarded the email to Epstein the same day in a message in which he described Taibleson as his “brilliant niece.”

Taibleson, a former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh when he was on the D.C. Circuit, and the late Justice Antonin Scalia, was confirmed in October 2025.

She testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in September 2018 in support of Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court as he faced allegations of sex assault, which he denied. Taibleson also previously worked as assistant to the solicitor general during Trump’s first term.

Taibleson didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Justice Department’s release of the largest batch of Epstein files followed intense public pressure and a congressional mandate, and reveals Epstein’s connections to scores of prominent lawyers, investors, executives, political figures, academics, and media advisers following his first prison stint.