Tom Goldstein to Take Stand in His Own Defense Wednesday (1)

Lawyers for high-profile US Supreme Court advocate Tom Goldstein said he will testify in his own defense on tax and false statement charges starting Wednesday morning.

His attorneys made the announcement after prosecutors concluded their case Tuesday in the US District Court in the District of Maryland.

It’s a risky proposition. He’s opening himself up to cross-examination and could expose himself to a an obstruction-of-justice enhancement to any sentence if he’s convicted and the court decides he was dishonest on the stand.

The government’s final witness was IRS revenue agent Colleen Ranahan. She was there to summarize the evidence that had been presented and to act as a “human calculator,” prosecutors said.

Ranahan told jurors that Goldstein understated his gambling income by $3.4 million in 2016. Her analysis was based on her assessment of the documentary evidence including Goldstein’s bank records, a gambling ledger documenting his gambling activities in 2016, a stipulation of agreed-upon facts that was entered into evidence, and contemporaneous emails and text messages.

Goldstein reported just $2.7 million in gambling income on his 2016 tax return, she said. She said he should have reported $6.2 million.

According to Ranahan, Goldstein got to the lower number primarily by overstating his gambling losses that year.

Goldstein stipulated to winning $26,735,000 while losing $21,643,700. But the stipulation says the parties can present evidence of other transactions not mentioned in it.

Ranahan also walked jurors through alleged misstatements on each of Goldstein’s tax returns between 2017 and 2020, explaining why the government believes certain line items on the returns were false.

On cross-examination, counsel for Goldstein said he wanted to talk about “responsibility” for the alleged errors. That there were mistakes on Goldstein’s taxes isn’t so much in dispute.

Ranahan acknowledged there was no documentary evidence showing that Goldstein intentionally mischaracterized any transaction.

This line of questioning also made it clear to the jury that the government isn’t alleging that Goldstein had net gambling winnings to declare for any year at issue but 2016.

Goldstein is charged with one count of tax evasion, eight counts of aiding and abetting in the preparation of false and fraudulent tax returns, four counts of willful failure to pay taxes, and three counts of making a false statement on a loan application. The government rested its case-in-chief Tuesday following 15 days of trial—12 when you exclude the three full days of jury selection.

Goldstein is represented by Munger Tolles & Olson LLP.

The case is United States v. Goldstein, D. Md., No. 8:25-cr-00006, trial held 2/10/26.