Deal in Tom Goldstein's tax fraud trial spares journalist Toobin from testifying

By Mike Scarcella

WASHINGTON, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Jurors at the criminal tax trial of Thomas Goldstein on Thursday heard key parts of an interview he gave to legal affairs journalist Jeffrey Toobin, whose news article profiling the former U.S. Supreme Court lawyer explored his side career as a high-stakes poker player.

But Toobin will not be called as a witness at the trial in federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland, after prosecutors and Goldstein’s lawyers reached an agreement to instead allow jurors to consider specific passages from Toobin’s lengthy December 2025 article about Goldstein in The New York Times.

Toobin had asked U.S. District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby to bar his testimony at the trial, now in its 13th day. Goldstein backed Toobin’s effort to not testify. Griggsby on Thursday said there was no longer any need to rule on Toobin’s request.

A lawyer for Toobin, Chad Bowman, in a statement said prosecutors "had no legitimate need for the testimony of journalists in the middle of trial." He called the effort "a serious intrusion into the newsgathering process that will chill future journalism."

Goldstein faces 16 criminal counts, including tax evasion, aiding and abetting in the preparation of false and fraudulent tax returns, willful failure to pay taxes and making false statements on loan applications.

At the start of Thursday’s proceeding, Griggsby read the agreement between prosecutors and Goldstein’s lawyers about Toobin’s article. Goldstein participated in the article, speaking with Toobin over a series of interviews.

Among other details, jurors heard that Goldstein understated debts from poker on bank forms to keep his wife in the dark about his losses.

Goldstein has pleaded not guilty and maintains he did not knowingly violate any tax or mortgage laws. Goldstein’s lawyers said he relied on accountants and office managers to handle financial reporting.

Prosecutors said this week they wanted Toobin to testify only about whether Goldstein made statements to him.

“By describing to the Times reporter his motive for failing to disclose the debts, Goldstein admitted to the first two elements of mortgage fraud — making a false statement on a mortgage application and doing so knowingly,” prosecutors said in a court filing.

Jurors have heard from more than a dozen witnesses so far, including law firm leaders, IRS agents and high-stakes card players. Longtime professional poker player Andrew Robl testified on Thursday, describing some of the work he did to prepare Goldstein for key poker matches.

Last week, actor and Spider-Man star Tobey Maguire testified about hiring Goldstein to help him recover millions of dollars he was owed in poker winnings. Maguire paid Goldstein $500,000 in legal fees, which prosecutors said Goldstein asked Maguire to send to a third-party to cover the lawyer's own poker debts. Maguire is not accused of any wrongdoing.

The trial is expected to last at least another week.