Supreme Court attorney Tom Goldstein (UNC School of Law/YouTube).
A lawyer known for handling high-profile cases and co-founding the popular Supreme Court news and analysis site SCOTUSblog has been indicted on federal tax evasion charges for allegedly failing to report millions of dollars that he won gambling in high-stakes poker matches, according to federal prosecutors. The attorney, Tom Goldstein, is also accused of using his former law firm’s assets to “satisfy” gambling debts.
“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 last week.
Goldstein, 54, 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 his wife, Amy Howe, in 2002 and stepped away from his old firm, Goldstein & Russell P.C., in 2023 after announcing that he was retiring.
“Thomas C. Goldstein, of Chevy Chase, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., was the sole owner of Goldstein & Russell P.C., a boutique law firm specializing in appellate litigation, including litigation before the U.S. Supreme Court,” DOJ prosecutors state in a Jan. 16 press release. “Goldstein was allegedly also a high-stakes poker player, frequently playing in games involving millions of dollars.”
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. He “falsely understated his gambling winnings” by more than $3.9 million on his 2016 Form 1040, according to his indictment, causing the filing of a false Form 1040 and the evasion of a substantial amount of his 2016 income tax.
“In March 2018, Goldstein falsely told an IRS Revenue Officer seeking to collect his unpaid taxes for 2016 that his unpaid tax liability for that year was attributable to a legal case resulting in a large payment to Goldstein whereas, in truth, his liability was attributable principally to gambling income,” the indictment says. “Goldstein used over $1.1 million of G&R funds to pay personal debts in 2016, including gambling debts owed to poker players … causing the filing of false Forms 1120S and 1040 and the evasion of a substantial amount of his 2016 income tax.”
Between March 2016 and late December 2016, Goldstein allegedly engaged in a series of heads-up poker matches — those that involve only two people playing against each other — with three “ultra-wealthy individuals,” according to prosecutors. Two of them were located in Asia and one in Beverly Hills, California, per the indictment.
He allegedly won over $50 million.
“In preparation for these matches, Goldstein sought and obtained guidance and coaching from two professional poker players, as well as others, to study the historical playing patterns and betting strategies of his three opponents and hone his strategy against them,” the indictment says.
Goldstein allegedly won $13.8 million in his first match against one of the opponents in Asia, who is described in the indictment as “Foreign Gambler-1.” He allegedly won $26.4 million against the man in the United States — identified as “California Businessman-2” — and $8.8 million against the other opponent in Asia, “Foreign Gambler-2.”
“In addition to the 2016 poker matches described above, Goldstein was involved in other heads-up and ringpoker matches during 2016 in which he lost millions of dollars,” the indictment says. “To pay some of those gambling debts, Goldstein caused four wire transfers totaling $871,600 to be sent from the G&R bank account to the winners of those matches. Goldstein also caused wire transfers in the amounts of $200,000 and $100,000 to be sent from the G&R bank account to California Businessman-1 to pay down the amounts Goldstein owed.”
Prosecutors say Goldstein “failed to inform” his former law firm that payments he was sending — totaling over $1.1 million — were to “satisfy his personal debts rather than those of G&R,” which led to the transfers being falsely classified as “Legal Fee” expenses.
Speaking to CNBC, Goldstein’s lawyers John Lauro and Christopher Kise — both of whom have represented Donald Trump in high-profile cases of his own — described Goldstein last week 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.”
A 2008 Washington Post article about Goldstein’s gambling prowess describes him as a “high-roller poker maniac” who first entered the card world after he “got caught up” watching poker on ESPN, the lawyer said. His indictment accuses him of being “an ultrahigh-stakes poker player, frequently playing in matches or series of matches in the United States and abroad involving stakes totaling millions, and even tens of millions, of dollars.”
In addition to tax evasion, Goldstein is charged with aiding and assisting the preparation of false tax returns, willful failure to pay taxes, and false statement on loan applications.
