Prosecution’s Case Against Goldstein Starts to Gel on 11th Day

The government’s case against US Supreme Court advocate Tom Goldstein on tax evasion and false statement charges began to come together Tuesday after days of presentations that sometimes felt disjointed.

Initial testimony from Goldstein’s outside accountant will be particularly damaging to the extent jurors credit it. His testimony sharply contradicted Goldstein’s claim that he was relying on his staff and the expertise of outside accountants and tax prepares to ensure his taxes were correct.

Appellate lawyer and former Goldstein & Russell PC partner Sarah Harrington was first up of four witnesses the jurors heard from in the US District Court for the District of Maryland on Tuesday.

Prosecutors asked Harrington, now a partner at Covinginton & Burling LLP, about the nearly $1 million in cash that Goldstein brought into the US from Hong Kong in 2018.

Her “impression of her memory” is that the money was a payment of legal fees from a client, but she said she didn’t have a specific recollection of Goldstein saying so. He had clients in Asia, she said.

Goldstein classified the cash as a loan for purposes of his taxes, but other witnesses testified that he said it was gambling winnings or a loan.

Harrington told jurors that there are ethical rules against lawyers taking loans from clients.

Harrington also told jurors that she never heard about Goldstein’s poker playing with actor Kevin Hart. She said she knew Tobey Maguire was a G&R client, but only because Goldstein had mentioned it once or twice.

Goldstein is accused of failing to report $200,000 in gambling income that he won from Hart in 2016. He is also accused of hiding $500,000 in legal fee income in 2021 by having Maguire, who was his client, send money owed for legal services directly to Bob Safai, to whom Goldstein owed millions in gambling losses.

Lenders, Accountant Testify

Gregg Busch, a vice president at First Savings Mortgage, testified next. He told jurors that Goldstein never mentioned gambling debts when he applied for two separate loans in 2021. He also said Goldstein failed to disclose the full scope of his tax liabilities at the time.

The lender, which didn’t wind up lending Goldstein money, didn’t know that Goldstein owed around $16 million in unsecured gambling-related debts, he said.

Craig Cooper, general counsel and executive vice president of The Wonderful Co. LLC, also testified. The owners of the privately held conglomerate—Stuart and Linda Resnick—extended Goldstien a $10 million line of credit.

That line of credit comprised the bulk of the undisclosed $16 million debt. It required Goldstein to pay interest and to provide at least 500 hours of pro bono legal services.

Goldstein had asked for a line of credit to finance “other people” to play high-stakes poker, Cooper said. He started to testify about what he read later about the line of credit, but the defense objected.

Cooper said they were constantly extending the loan and changing its terms as Goldstein failed to make a meaningful dent in the principal. Goldstein still owes around $9 million, he said.

Goldstein knew Cooper because Goldstein had represented POM Wonderful LLC in a case they thought might make it to the Supreme Court.

Walter Deyhle, one of Goldstein’s former tax preparers at GRF CPAs & Advisors, took the stand last and will resume testifying Wednesday.

The thrust of his testimony was garbage in, garbage out.

“The ability to file a complete and accurate return is 100% tied to receiving quality information,” he said.

He also said that they relied on Goldstein and his firm managers to properly classify transactions. GRF lacks the information to do that independently, he said.

Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby is presiding over the case.

Goldstein is represented by Munger Tolles & Olson LLP.

The case is United States v. Goldstein, D. Md., No. 8:25-cr-00006, trial held 2/3/26.