Lawyer Tom Goldstein admits 'mistakes' but denies tax crimes at US trial

By Mike Scarcella

WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Former U.S. Supreme Court lawyer Thomas Goldstein told a federal jury weighing criminal tax charges against him on Thursday that he should have paid more attention to his tax returns and to his law firm's finances, but that he did not intentionally violate any laws.

"The mistakes, responsibility for those tax years is mine. I may end up continuing to pay for this for a long time," said Goldstein, who is accused of misreporting millions of dollars stemming from his side-career as a high-stakes poker player. "That's my responsibility. It's just very different from whether I committed a crime."

Returning to the stand on his second day of testimony at the trial in Greenbelt, Maryland, Goldstein clashed with prosecutor Sean Beaty, who portrayed him as a meticulous lawyer who could dig deep on all issues of a case, commanding substantial legal fees for his work, but also as a liar who deceived his wife and others about the scope of his poker activities.

"You still think you're the victim here?," Beaty asked him.

"No, I do not think I am the victim here, sir," Goldstein responded.

Goldstein, who argued more than 40 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court before retiring in 2023, was indicted last year for allegedly failing to report millions of dollars he won in poker games, lying on mortgage loan documents and making improper payments through his former law firm Goldstein & Russell.

He has pleaded not guilty and blamed any financial reporting errors on an overreliance on his advisers and accountants.

Beaty questioned Goldstein about his lavish spending, including a $225,000 Bentley car, splurging at clubs and renting expensive apartments in Miami and other cities. "Poker. Travel. Cars. Watches. All while you owed millions of dollars to the IRS," Beaty told jurors.

Goldstein testified that his personal spending on property while he owed taxes "has an element of being embarrassing" but was not illegal.

“I am not making excuses," he said. "I should have had a different set of priorities. But it's not a situation where I am just all the time wildly doing things.”

Jurors have heard from more than a dozen witnesses so far, including law firm leaders, IRS agents and other poker players in the high-stakes gambling circles Goldstein inhabited.

Jury deliberations in the trial could begin next week.