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

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

Thomas Goldstein, who was once part of the legal team representing Al Gore in his Supreme Court case over the 2000 election won by George W. Bush, was found guilty of 12 of 16 charges Wednesday after a six-week trial in Maryland.

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

“This was a textbook tax evasion scheme,” Beaty added. “And Mr. Goldstein executed it almost flawlessly.”

Jurors deliberated for about two days before convicting Goldstein on one count of tax evasion, four counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, four counts of knowingly failing to pay taxes on time and three counts of making 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 a business expense.

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

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

“A mistake is not a crime,” said Kravis, claiming that the government made a hasty decision and did not adequately investigate the case.

According to Beaty, Goldstein had approximately $50 million in poker winnings in 2016; this includes the nearly $22 million he earned in Asia. The tax evasion scheme “collapsed” when another gambler, who felt cheated by Goldstein, notified the IRS about a 2016 debt he owed to the lawyer, the prosecutor said.

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

The hearing, which started on January 12, also included the testimony of “Spider-Man” star Tobey Maguire, an avid poker player who asked Goldstein for help in collecting a billionaire’s gambling debt.

Testifying in his own defense, Goldstein denied any wrongdoing. He said he repeatedly instructed his law firm’s staff and accountants to accurately describe his personal expenses.

Thomas Goldstein, a leading U.S. Supreme Court attorney and former publisher of the news website SCOTUSblog, arrives for jury selection at his trial on tax evasion charges in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland, on January 13, 2026. (Leah 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. The indictment alleges that he excluded $15 million in gambling debts from his mortgage loan applications while he and his wife were looking for a new home in Washington, D.C., in 2021.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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