SCOTUSblog co-founder convicted of tax and mortgage fraud [View all]

Source: The Hill

02/26/26 11:02 AM ET


A prominent Supreme Court litigator who published a popular blog on the high court and moonlighted as a high-stakes poker player was convicted Wednesday of tax evasion and other charges tied to his secretive gambling lifestyle. Tom Goldstein, co-founder of SCOTUSblog, was found guilty on 12 of 16 charges he faced following a trial in Greenbelt, Md.

Prosecutors said Goldstein frequently played in games involving tens of millions of dollars, and beginning in 2016, stopped paying taxes on his significant gambling income. They also alleged that he diverted payments to his law firm for paying off poker-related debts and falsely deducted those debts as business expenses, meanwhile spending millions on luxury personal expenses.

“Goldstein chose fraud and deceit over honesty and tried to cheat the American taxpayer while living a lavish lifestyle,” said Kelly Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland. “He gambled that he wouldn’t get caught, and that gamble did not pay off.”

He was part of the legal team that represented Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore in the Supreme Court’s review of the 2000 election, which former President George W. Bush, a Republican, ultimately won. The lawyer also argued more than 40 cases at the Supreme Court himself before retiring in 2023.

Read more: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5756354-scotusblog-tom-goldstein-conviction-tax-mortgage-fraud/