Writes David Lat, in "SCOTUSblog Founder Tom Goldstein Hit With 22-Count Federal Indictment/A lengthy indictment accuses the once high-flying Supreme Court lawyer of massive tax evasion—tied to multimillion-dollar poker losses and multiple affairs" (Substack).
Lat thinks Goldstein's future is not all used up: "He’s only 54, and he still has the intelligence, hard work, and hustle that allowed him to launch a leading Supreme Court website and become one of the nation’s top SCOTUS advocates, even though he never clerked for the Court or graduated from an elite law school. And if the allegations are true, Tom has an unimaginable amount of energy: he was somehow able to argue before the Supreme Court, run a law firm, win and lose tens of millions in high-stakes poker, juggle a dozen women, oversee SCOTUSblog, and raise two kids... He also helped develop a pitch for a television show based on his life and career, which got picked up for development by NBC in 2009. The program, tentatively called Tommy Supreme, never made it to the screen...."
But now the story is far more exciting — especially if he's guilty. Lat sketches out possible futures for Goldstein — including "a pardon from Trump." And, interestingly, Goldstein published "End the Criminal Cases Against Trump" in the NYT (last November, just after the election). But if the idea is to produce a great redemption story — worthy of that TV show — it can't end with a presidential pardon.
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44 comments:
I'm reminded of Ann Coulter's comment about Rush Limbaugh when Rush was battling his addiction: on the lines of, "It turns out he really was keeping half his brain tied behind his back." (Other than that, I have zero to say - never read SCOTUSblog, don't know this person.)
now THAT's what being "All In" really looks like. Eventually the plates fall off the sticks, no matter how fast or talented you happen to be. Everybody gets tired and makes mistakes. Sic semper hubris. Best of luck to SCOTUSblog in this time of trouble.
How did old Tom find the time? I get consumed writing a brief for the Nebraska Supreme Court!
Be patient and kind to one another. Everyone has s*t going on in their lives. Some more than others….
interesting 'bio' of Tom
reads like if Trump had taken up law!!!
Arguing in teh SCOTUS… winning/losing millions of dollars playing poker… crossing the border with a million buck in a duffel bag… borrowing millions of dollars from people who would not hesitate to do grievous harm should he miss a payment… failing to pay taxes…
Lifestyle of the typical barrister…
He was the Tiger Woods of the law of motions. Maybe some people find getting away with stuff as an invaluable source of inspiration. I’m just sitting with it, without judgement. 👌🏽
Gambling addictions are no joke and have destroyed many otherwise fine, intelligent people.
Lost interest in the blog when they left Twitter. Still occasionally see the blondie on TikTok. We’ll see how that plays out
Power corrupts. I don’t see a reason for a pardon, unless he is being prosecuted because he won’t that article in the NYT.
SCOTUS advocacy is basically gambling. Four of the world's greatest legal minds (ok, work with me) can agree with you, but if you can't get one more, your client goes to the gallows, loses millions, gets their statute ruled unconstitutional, etc. And getting that fifth vote relies more on politics and voodoo than on your appellate abilities. I could see how the Venn diagram of gamblers and the SCOTUS bar would have a great deal of overlap.
Maybe he'll represent himself - all the way up to SCOTUS. Has anyone ever been perp-walked up to the counsel table by the Supreme Court Marshal? That would be a great Hollywood redemption story.
JSM
Lawyers are perfectly placed to enter into all the vices, prostitution, drug use, gambling, etc. Their clients bring these vices to them. “Touch of Evil” is one of my favorite movies. “Infierno” is another. Trump’s cautions about vice and corruption in Mexico, and the history of that vice and corruption, is well documented by great artists.
Goldstein will make a fine jailhouse lawyer and will doubtless set a new standard for the canned brief in support of petitions for habeas corpus.
Extraordinary people aren't ordinary. Tom Goldstein was looking for something in life that his productive work wasn't giving him. Knowing nothing about Goldstein, it seems like he needs to suffer the consequences of his actions, more than he needs a "Get Out of Jail Free" card.
Man on Fire
So much to discuss- who are these women attracted to this guy? He’s no Jeff Bezos in the Looks Dept. Are there law groupies? Next, I never heard of at high stakes games. Could he play into the tourneys or was it always private games? The private games are the where the sheister stuff happens…and some
players let the hubris run things while they forget about standard deviation and risk of ruin. So easy to start playing over your head…also easy to forget how plentiful duffel bags of US dollars are overseas while the US tries to keep track of the $10k stacks.
"[T]hey should squarely place all ownership and control of SCOTUSblog in Amy’s hands.... "
They should consider selling it to the highest bidder. Wouldn't giving the business away be fraud on Goldstein's victims? They should get restitution.
Love that scene. Which needed the tinkly music to work so well, despite those two. Superb movie, Touch of Evil. Famous opening shot, for the younger generation who've missed it. Best Welles? This one and The Stranger. Magnificent Ambersons, honorable mention. He is only heard in that last, not seen.
"They should consider selling it to the highest bidder."
Lat writes: "And as a loyal reader of SCOTUSblog pretty much since its inception, I hereby volunteer to do anything in my power to keep it up and running. For example, if at some point SCOTUSblog gets put up for auction—whether by Tom and Amy, the federal government, or a bankruptcy trustee—I’d be willing to put together a consortium to acquire the site and figure out how to keep it going in perpetuity."
Goldstein being represented by Trump lawyers Christopher Kise and John Lauro. Imagine a case like this has been in the works a long time and was a factor in his retirement from law practice in 2023.
It’s hard for me to understand what the value of the blog is. It would not be very hard for the remaining honest people associated with the blog to set up a new one. They could call it scotus review blog or something. As far as branding, I think a criminal attorney is the last person you would want to depend on for respectability.
The Althouse blog is unique due to the personalities involved, but it seems like this guy is no longer producing his blog.
I wonder if the alleged crook will have internet access in prison. Then he could comment bomb his old blog.
It's unclear to me if he really did evade taxes. I guess we'll find out.
Carrying $1mm in cash across a border undeclared is just a cry for help right? He should be pardoned. But all the ordinary folks who don’t pay their taxes need to rot in jail forever, we can’t have the paroles defy the state.
You obviously have not read the indictment.
Lat thinks Goldstein's future is not all used up: "He’s only 54, and he still has the intelligence, hard work, and hustle that allowed him to launch a leading Supreme Court website and become one of the nation’s top SCOTUS advocates, even though he never clerked for the Court or graduated from an elite law school.
Not to mention the energy, intelligence, hard work and hustle that enabled him to lose millions at poker, conduct multiple affairs, and cheat the IRS. The man will go far, and he's not done yet.
Goldstein has characterized his blog as a public service that cost him $400k pa when he announced in October 2023 that he was downsizing after the loss of an editor, and intended to spend $250k pa going forward. By then the USSC web site had improved so much, and for attorneys there was law360, so I stopped following scotusblog, and only became aware it was still around recently. But in fact it's going strong. But it does not have ads or paid subscribers so it probably needs a new set of angels as goldstein fights to stay out of prison.
The lesson of his bio is, if you can’t win by hard work, get your friends and relatives to beg favors for you. It really works! Unless you are not fortunate enough to have relatives or internships that can help you cut in line.
"They should consider selling it to the highest bidder."
So ... The Onion?
Last November [2005], Goldstein had argued Georgia v. Randolph, a Fourth Amendment case that tested the bounds of permissible search and seizure. ...Scott Randolph, got into an argument with his estranged wife at their home. She called the police, and the cops asked if they could search the premises. Randolph refused; his wife consented. She led the patrolmen to a stash of cocaine, prompting Randolph's arrest and eventual conviction. He appealed his conviction to the Georgia Supreme Court and won.
In the Georgia v. Randolph appeal (brought by the state of Georgia law enforcement), wasn't it enough that the Georgia high court decided to enlarge 4th Amendment protections to the citizens of the state of Georgia?
Should have SCOTUS taken this case up on the merits and set nationwide precedent?
SCOTUS: The question here is whether such an evidentiary seizure is likewise lawful with the permission of one occupant when the other, who later seeks to suppress the evidence, is present at the scene and expressly refuses to consent. We hold that, in the circumstances here at issue, a physically present co-occupant’s stated refusal to permit entry prevails, rendering the warrantless search unreasonable and invalid as to him.
Tax evasion is bad. Period. If he’s convicted, I hope he is sentenced commensurate with how other tax evaders are sentenced, and that he serves his sentence in full.
Well, if Hunter Biden is any guide to tax evasion, Goldstein should get off scott free.
Some people process faster. Just as some people jump higher and run faster. But it sounds like he was a delegator. Excellent skill to have.
It sucks you can’t deduct your losses from illegal gambling from your income. You can only deduct legal gambling losses from legal gambling income.
This guy needs a good judge.
Fascinating stuff. Megyn Kelly covered this also in her 1/17 pod
If they have his tax records and his bank records, and I assume they do, it's difficult to see what his defense will be.
who are these women attracted to this guy
I assume the risk-taking makes him exciting to some women.
It’s hard for me to understand what the value of the blog is.
I agree. The only asset is the name recognition, and unfortunately it's now a punchline. This is a great marketing opportunity for someone else to set up this service.
Scotusblog is an excellent source, promptly updated, for objective analysis of the Court's current docket. David Lat would find a way to move it leftward into the touchy feely living constitutionalism favored by the elite professoriat
Lat's column reminded me of a different movie scene - the one at the end of Life of Brian.
Here you go.
He's cooked.
Goldstein's friends and associates don't seem too outraged about his tax evasion conviction. Guess, they would be tax cheats too, if they could get away with it. Anyway, even if Goldstein is convicted he can pull a "michael cohen". Cohen pled guilty to evading taxes on $4 million in income, and failing to disclose to lenders that he had already had $14 million in outstanding loans. Maximum sentence for tax evasion is 5 years. Making false statements to a federally insured bank 30 years. Cohen ending up serving 18 months in a "Club fed" prison, and then 18 months under "House arrest".
Pretty sweet. But then Cohen and the Judge who ordered his release from prison are both from NYC and are reported to go to the same church. Maybe Tom Goldstein will get lucky too.
So many great scenes in Touch of Evil. Too bad the movie as a whole doesn't amount to much. Welles almost made a silk purse from the sow's ear of source material. Probably the only real weakness is Chuck Heston as a Mexican. Dunno what Welles was thinking on that one.
If they filed jointly, Amy has a problem.
Tom’s mistake was not having Biden as his surname.
Tom’s mistake was not having Biden as his surname.
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