Supreme Court litigator convicted of tax evasion over income from high-stakes poker

WASHINGTON– A prominent Supreme Court litigator who also published a popular blog about the nation’s highest court was convicted Wednesday of tax evasion and related charges stemming from his secretive lifestyle as an ultra-high stakes poker player.

A federal jury found Thomas Goldstein, co-founder of SCOTUSblog, guilty on 12 of 16 counts after a six-week trial in Greenbelt, Maryland. 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.

Goldstein was accused of failing to pay taxes on millions of dollars in gambling income. Justice Department prosecutors also accused him of diverting money from his law firm to pay gambling debts and of falsely deducting gambling debts as business expenses.

Goldstein argued more than 40 cases before the Supreme Court before retiring in 2023. He was part of the legal team that represented Democrat Al Gore at trial before the Supreme Court during the 2000 election ultimately won by Republican President George W. Bush.

Goldstein’s indictment a year ago sent shockwaves through the Washington, D.C. legal community. Many friends and colleagues did not know the extent of his game.

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

Defense attorney Jonathan Kravis said the government rushed to judgment and failed to adequately investigate the case. Goldstein made “innocent mistakes” on his tax returns, but did not cheat on his taxes or knowingly make false statements on his tax returns, Kravis told jurors.

“A mistake is not a crime,” he said.

Beaty described Goldstein as a “willful tax evader.” 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.

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

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. In a 2014 email, he told a company employee that “we always strictly follow the rules.”

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.

“He only thought of his wife when he let go of the gambling debts,” Kravis said.