Jury to get tax-evasion case against Supreme Court lawyer who became high-stakes poker player

Source: AP

Updated 5:01 PM EST, February 18, 2026


GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — As an attorney, Thomas Goldstein routinely argued cases before the Supreme Court and published a popular blog about the nation’s highest court. Unbeknownst to friends and colleagues, Goldstein also became an ultra-high-stakes poker player who grossed tens of millions of dollars in winnings but racked up a staggering gambling debt.

The secretive side of Goldstein’s life has been the focus of a six-week trial in Maryland for a tax-evasion case against the SCOTUSblog co-founder. His indictment a year ago sent shockwaves through the legal community in the nation’s capital, where Goldstein argued more than 40 cases before the Supreme Court before retiring in 2023.

As the trial drew to a close on Wednesday, Justice Department prosecutor Sean Beaty told jurors that Goldstein is one of the smartest and most accomplished attorneys ever to argue a case before the high court. “He’s not a dummy. He’s a willful tax cheat,” Beaty said during the trial’s closing arguments.

Defense attorney Jonathan Kravis said the government, in a rush to judgment, “blindly” accepted an accountant’s “made-up story” about Goldstein’s gambling activities and failed to adequately investigate the case.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/thomas-goldstein-supreme-court-blog-tax-evasion-912a3617090e019f10a775e0e2060789