(image
via
Getty)
The
last
time
we
heard
from
SCOTUSblog
co-founder
and
veteran
Supreme
Court
litigator
Tom
Goldstein,
he
was
explaining
why
Donald
Trump
should
be
excused
from
all
his
criminal
cases
because
winning
the
electoral
college
is
basically
the
same
as
a
New
York
state
law
acquittal.
It
seems
as
though
Goldstein
might
have
had
some
extra
motivation
to
curry
favor
with
Trump
now
that
it’s
come
to
light
that
the
federal
government
has
been
looking
into
Goldstein
for
tax
evasion
and
loan
fraud
resulting
in
an
indictment
dropping
this
afternoon.
Where
to
even
begin
with
this
thing?
It’s
really
like
Rounders
in
reverse
except
Teddy
KGB
has
names
like
“California
Businessman-1”
and
“Law
Firm-2.”
Over
the
course
of
several
years,
the
indictment
says
that
Goldstein
racked
up
big
winnings
and
bigger
losses
in
high-stakes
underground
domestic
and
international
poker
matches.
By
the
time
of
the
alleged
loan
fraud,
the
feds
say
Goldstein
was
around
$16
million
in
the
hole
and
failing
to
disclose
that.
And
while
he
didn’t
report
all
his
gambling
income,
a
good
deal
of
the
tax
problems
revolve
around
using
the
firm,
Goldstein
&
Russell,
as
a
piggy
bank
to
move
money
from
firm
coffers
to
pay
personal
gambling
debts.
And,
just
for
good
measure,
the
indictment
includes
some
extra
personal
and
financial
shenanigans:
Paying
four
affairs
while
working
with
your
wife…
gotta
say
this
has
a
real
“Behind
The
Music”
feel
to
it
and
man
there
are
some
storm
clouds
are
on
the
horizon
here.
Also,
the
infamous
if
apocryphal
Biglaw
memo
where
a
partner
asked
a
young
lawyer
to
write
a
lengthy
memo
of
local
lunch
options
is
now
officially
the
second
most
lawyerly
nonsense
memo
ever:
You
can
check
out
my
liveblog
of
my
initial
reading
of
the
indictment
here.
Across
50
pages,
the
indictment
describes
heads
up
games
in
Macau,
interfirm
deals
to
use
fees
to
offset
debts,
helping
an
actor
get
a
Texas
billionaire
to
pay
up,
using
a
litigation
funder
to
cover
losses,
and
crossing
the
border
with
a
duffel
bag
filled
with
$968,000.
And
here
we
thought
writing
comical
letters
to
porn
stars
threatening
to
sue
was
Goldstein’s
wild
side.
(Check
out
the
whole
indictment
on
the
next
page…)
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter or
Bluesky
if
you’re
interested
in
law,
politics,
and
a
healthy
dose
of
college
sports
news.
Joe
also
serves
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Managing
Director
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Executive
Search.