Indicted Lawyer Says Govt. 'Intentionally Misled' Court in Tax Evasion Case

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Mar 21, 2025 4 min read

Embattled lawyer and high-stakes poker player Tom Goldstein alleged that prosecutors have "intentionally misled the court" and "made critical false statements" in his tax evasion case.

In previous court filings, prosecutors with the US Department of Justice alleged Goldstein offered cryptocurrency and other things of value "to a potential witness in the case who has intimate knowledge of his and his law firm's finances and income — and that there was no other credible reason for doing so than to attempt to prevent the potential witness from assisting in the investigation."

Goldstein filed a motion on March 10 to compel the production of the witnesses' grand jury testimony. In a March 14 opposing motion, prosecutors, who have not charged Goldstein with witness tampering, clarified that "the witness has explained that (Goldstein) did not suggest that the witness not assist in the investigation, and the witness cannot testify as to Defendant’s subjective intent."

Still, they said "the facts demonstrate that (Goldstein) made continued offers of cryptocurrency and things of value to the witness who had key information about Defendant’s conduct after the investigation went overt."

In a March 18 filing, Goldstein's attorneys called this a "belated confession" that was "made only when faced with the imminent prospect of being required to disclose the testimony" and that "shows that the government’s prior representations to the Court on this issue were at a minimum deeply misleading, and at worst intentionally false."

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Texts Show Offers of Crypto, Student Loan Payments to Witness

Though prosecutors opposed Goldstein's request to review grand jury testimony, they submitted as evidence a series of text messages from the witness, who was an employee at Goldstein & Russell when the government began its investigation into Goldstein in 2020.

In a November 2020 text message, the witness, who had recently quit the firm, wrote that Goldstein had "stalled" on posting the job for their replacement "about three weeks to throw off the irs (sic)."

"Lol would that really throw them off?" the unnamed recipient of the text message replied.

"Probably not, but when I quit he mentioned that it would look suspicious to the IRS," the witness wrote back. "Like I knew something."

A few weeks later, the witness wrote that Goldstein was "losing it" and that "this tax stuff must be getting to him because he keeps offering me money."

"Bitcoin, student loan payments, a $10k bonus when a big case comes in. expensive headphones. Every time he sees me," the witness wrote on Jan. 21, 2021. "It's so so uncomfortable."

Prosecutors argued that even though the witness did not state that Goldstein told them to not cooperate with the government, "the absence of a specific request not to cooperate does little to undermine the strong inference that Defendant (a highly sophisticated attorney) was attempting (to) influence the witness by offering the witness things of value well after the witness had announced that the witness would be resigning, and the witness’s replacement was hired."

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"Lack of Candor"

In the March 18 filing, Goldstein's attorneys argued that his reputation "was gravely injured by the government’s false and misleading allegations in public filings" that he bribed a witness, as well as that he "used cryptocurrency accounts in violation of his release conditions" and "has access to millions of dollars in secret cryptocurrency accounts."

"The defense respectfully suggests that the Court address at the March 25 hearing whether sanctions against the government are warranted—in the form of a rebuking the government on the record—for its lack of candor," Goldstein's attorneys wrote.

Goldstein, the founder of SCOTUSblog and a prominent US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) attorney, faces charges related to tax evasion, preparing false and fraudulent tax returns, and making false statements on mortgage applications. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Connor Richards is an Editor & Live Reporter for PokerNews and host of the Life Outside Poker podcast. Connor has been nominated for two Global Poker Awards for his writing.

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