Tom Goldstein, SCOTUSblog co-founder, is convicted of tax evasion

A Supreme Court litigator and co-founder of the website SCOTUSblog has been convicted by a federal jury after being accused of failing to pay taxes on millions of dollars in gambling income stemming from his lifestyle as an ultra-high stakes poker player.

Thomas Goldstein, once part of the legal team that represented Al Gore before the Supreme Court during the 2000 election ultimately won by George W. Bush, was found guilty of 12 of 16 counts Wednesday following a six-week trial in Maryland.

“He lied to everyone around him,” Justice Department prosecutor Sean Beaty said during closing arguments in the trial.

“This was a classic tax avoidance scheme,” Beaty added. “And Mr. Goldstein executed that almost perfectly.”

Thomas Goldstein, Supreme Court litigator and co-founder of SCOTUSblog, poses for a photo in front of the Supreme Court in October 2013. (Alex Brandon/AP)

Jurors deliberated for about two days before convicting Goldstein of one count of tax evasion, four of eight counts of aiding and abetting the preparation of false tax returns, four counts of willfully failing to pay taxes on time and three counts of making false statements on loan applications.

Justice Department prosecutors also accused him of embezzling money from his law firm to pay gambling debts and falsely deducting gambling debts as business expenses.

Goldstein argued more than 40 cases before the Supreme Court before retiring in 2023.

His defense attorney, Jonathan Kravis, told jurors that Goldstein made “innocent mistakes” on his tax returns, but did not cheat on his taxes or knowingly make false statements on his tax returns, according to the Associated Press.

“A mistake is not a crime,” Kravis said, saying the government rushed to judgment and failed to adequately investigate the matter.

Goldstein raked in about $50 million in poker winnings in 2016, including about $22 million earned playing in Asia, according to Beaty. The prosecutor said the tax evasion scheme “unraveled” when another player, feeling cheated by Goldstein, informed the IRS of a 2016 debt owed to the lawyer.

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The Supreme Court will meet on Friday, February 20, 2026. (Annabelle Gordon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The trial, which began Jan. 12, included testimony from “Spider-Man” star Tobey Maguire, an avid poker player who sought Goldstein’s help in collecting a gambling debt from a billionaire.

Goldstein, who testified in his own defense, denied any wrongdoing. He said he repeatedly asked staff and accountants at his law firm to properly characterize his personal expenses.

Thomas Goldstein, a top U.S. Supreme Court lawyer and former publisher of the news site SCOTUSblog, arrives for jury selection in his tax fraud trial, at the U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland, January 13, 2026. (Léa Millis/Reuters)

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Goldstein was also accused of lying to IRS agents and hiding his gambling debts from his accountants, employees and mortgage lenders. He omitted a $15 million gambling debt from his mortgage applications while looking for a new home in Washington, D.C., with his wife in 2021, according to his indictment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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