Supreme Court litigator convicted of tax evasion

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

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

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

“It was a textbook tax-evasion scheme,” Beaty added. “And Mr. Goldstein executed that nearly flawlessly.”

Jurors deliberated for approximately two days before convicting Goldstein of one count of tax evasion, four of eight counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, four counts of willful failure to timely pay taxes and three counts of false statements on loan applications. 

Justice Department prosecutors also accused him of diverting 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 didn’t 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, claiming the government rushed to judgment and failed to adequately investigate the case. 

Goldstein raked in approximately $50 million in poker winnings in 2016, including roughly $22 million that he won playing in Asia, according to Beaty. The prosecutor said the tax evasion scheme “fell apart” when another gambler, feeling cheated by Goldstein, notified the IRS about a 2016 debt owed to the attorney.

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

Goldstein, who testified in his own defense, denied any wrongdoing. He has said he repeatedly instructed his law firm’s staff and accountants to correctly characterize his personal expenses.

Goldstein also was 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 mortgage loan applications while looking for a new home in Washington, D.C., with his wife in 2021, his indictment alleges. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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