Supreme Court attorney Tom Goldstein (UNC School of Law/YouTube).
For the second time in a month, Supreme Court lawyer and SCOTUSblog co-founder Tom Goldstein is in federal custody, this time for secretly using undisclosed cryptocurrency accounts behind the backs of federal prosecutors, which “demonstrates that he is a serious risk of flight” and violates his pretrial release conditions, according to court documents filed Monday.
Goldstein, who is known for handling high-profile cases and co-founding the popular Supreme Court news and analysis site SCOTUSblog with his wife and fellow attorney Amy Howe in 2002, was found to have likely violated terms of his pretrial release and ordered by U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy Sullivan to be detained pending trial. He is already facing federal tax evasion charges for allegedly failing to report millions that he won gambling in high-stakes poker matches, according to DOJ prosecutors. He is also accused of using his former law firm’s assets to “satisfy” alleged gambling debts.
“There is clear and convincing evidence of a violation of pretrial release conditions (not telling pretrial about two cryptocurrency wallets and transferring funds without prior retrial approval),” DOJ prosecutors allege in Goldstein’s arrest warrant and revocation of release request, which was filed Monday in Maryland federal court ahead of his bail hearing.
“There is also probable cause that Defendant committed violations … based on his false statements to Pretrial Services officers,” prosecutors allege. “Defendant’s conduct demonstrates that he is a serious risk of flight, that he cannot abide by the conditions of release, and that he has lied to this Court and Pretrial Services. A rebuttable presumption that Defendant is a danger to the community now applies, and Defendant’s conditions of release should be revoked.”
DOJ prosecutors say Goldstein, 54, received and sent millions of dollars using two “undisclosed cryptocurrency wallets,” while at the same time claiming he had “insufficient funds to afford his lawyers.”
Goldstein allegedly received and sent more than $14 million in cryptocurrency over the span of a week before being arrested Monday. “He received over $8 million in cryptocurrency and sent more than $6 million of cryptocurrency over the last five days,” prosecutors allege. While this was going on, Goldstein was fighting in court to remove “the potential” for a residence he owned in Washington, D.C., to be forfeited — if he were to flee or is convicted on the gambling-related charges he is facing — by offering up homes belonging to family members.
“On January 29, 2025, Defendant filed a motion to modify the conditions of release by substituting the Washington, D.C., residence for three properties in South Carolina belonging to his father, stepmother, and half-sister,” prosecutors say.
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Goldstein is accused of transferring funds into and out of a 935B crypto wallet and 54E3 crypto wallet “while simultaneously urging” the court to lift the forfeiture bond on his Washington, D.C., residence, according to the DOJ. He even managed to pull off the move, Sullivan agreeing to let Goldstein only forfeit his Washington home if he fails to appear.
“A central premise of Defendant’s pro se motion was that he has insufficient funds to afford his lawyers, and without being able to borrow against his equity in the Washington, D.C., residence, his Sixth Amendment right to counsel would be violated,” prosecutors point out. “Defendant violated his conditions of release by concealing the 935B and 54E3 cryptocurrency wallets when the Pretrial Services officer asked Defendant to disclose all his financial accounts, and because Defendant did not obtain prior approval for the millions of dollars.”
Sullivan did grant Goldstein’s request to represent himself in the case.
In his gambling case, DOJ prosecutors say Goldstein — an expert at Texas Hold ’em — willfully failed to pay more than $5.3 million in taxes that he allegedly owed the IRS following big wins. He allegedly “understated his gambling winnings” by more than $3.9 million on his 2016 Form 1040, according to his original indictment, causing the filing of a false Form 1040 and the evasion of a substantial amount of his 2016 income tax.
“Between 2016 and 2022, Goldstein engaged in a scheme to evade the assessment of taxes, file false tax returns and fail to pay his tax obligations when they were due,” the Department of Justice alleges in Goldstein’s 22-count indictment filed in the District of Maryland.
Between March 2016 and late December 2016, Goldstein engaged in a series of heads-up poker matches — where only two people play against each other — with three “ultra-wealthy individuals,” according to prosecutors. Two of them were allegedly located in Asia and one in Beverly Hills, California. He allegedly won over $50 million.
By telling the court he is “destitute,” prosecutors say Goldstein “presents an urgent risk of flight” and he “cannot rebut the presumption that there are no conditions of release that would reasonably assure the safety of the community,” according to his arrest warrant.
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Goldstein has been part of more than 40 cases in front of the Supreme Court, including the 2000 presidential election battle between Al Gore — his client — and George W. Bush. He co-founded SCOTUSblog with Howe in 2002 and stepped away from his old firm, Goldstein & Russell P.C., in 2023 after announcing that he was retiring.
Speaking to CNBC last month, Goldstein’s lawyers at the time, John Lauro and Christopher Kise — both of whom have represented Donald Trump in high-profile cases of his own — described Goldstein as a “prominent attorney with an impeccable reputation” who should be treated as innocent until proven guilty.
“We are deeply disappointed that the government brought these charges in a rush to judgment without understanding all of the important facts,” they told the outlet in a statement. “Our client intends to vigorously contest these charges and we expect he will be exonerated at trial.”
