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Criminal Justice

Indicted SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein can’t switch collateral, magistrate judge rules

By Debra Cassens Weiss

January 30, 2025, 10:20 am CST

A federal magistrate judge has denied SCOTUSblog co-founder Tom Goldstein’s request to switch collateral to avoid putting at risk the Washington, D.C., home that he owns with his wife, SCOTUSblog co-founder and reporter Amy Howe.

“The court finds that maintaining the Hawthorne Street property (the residence of Mr. Goldstein’s wife) as the property subject to forfeiture under the appearance bond … is necessary to reasonably assure that Mr. Goldstein will appear for all future proceedings in this case,” wrote Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Sullivan of the District of Maryland in a Jan. 29 order.

In a motion filed that same day, Goldstein had argued that he had to use equity in the Hawthorne Street home to pay his lawyers in the federal tax case against him.

Goldstein had asked the court to substitute South Carolina properties owned by his father, stepmother and half-sister, Law360 reports.

Goldstein is represented by John Lauro of Lauro & Singer and Christopher Kise of Continental, lawyers who have also represented President Donald Trump, Bloomberg Law has reported. Stuart Berman of Lerch, Early & Brewer may be serving as local counsel, Lauro said when Goldstein pleaded not guilty to tax and loan fraud charges Monday.

Goldstein’s Jan. 16 tax indictment alleged that he schemed to understate gambling winnings on tax returns that he earned in “ultrahigh-stakes” poker matches, failed to report cryptocurrency transactions, used millions of dollars of his law firm’s money to pay gambling and personal debts, used firm cash to pay health insurance and salaries to women he was pursuing or with whom he was involved, and failed to report money owed in debts and taxes when he applied for a mortgage.

Goldstein was a U.S. Supreme Court litigator at Goldstein & Russell, the boutique firm that he owned until he announced in March 2023 that he was retiring from practice.

Goldstein is facing four counts of tax evasion, 10 counts of aiding and assisting the preparation of false and fraudulent tax returns, five counts of willful failure to pay taxes, and three counts relating to false statements on mortgage loan applications.

Goldstein’s lawyers have said he is “a prominent attorney with an impeccable reputation” who expects to be exonerated at trial.

Goldstein’s Jan. 29 motion also asked the judge to change the wording of his appearance bond, which allowed forfeiture of the home for failing to comply with conditions of release. Goldstein and his wife were concerned that the home could be forfeited based on a minor violation of release conditions.

One of the conditions of Goldstein’s release is that he refrain from gambling, including poker, PokerNews reports.

Sullivan agreed to the wording change. The appearance bond now requires forfeiture only if Goldstein fails to appear.

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3. ‘Kennedy quiz’ stumps some federal judicial…

Judiciary

‘Kennedy quiz’ stumps some federal judicial nominees; subjects include collateral estoppel and Article V

By Debra Cassens Weiss

February 28, 2024, 1:42 pm CST

Federal judicial nominees can expect a grilling on the law from Republican U.S. Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Kennedy, a lawyer who was an adjunct law professor at Louisiana State University, asks nominees about legal concepts, the U.S. Constitution, recent U.S. Supreme Court cases and other legal information.

Bloomberg Law has the story.

Nick Xenakis, former general counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee, told Bloomberg Law that every nominee he spoke with before their committee hearings was trying to get ready for the “Kennedy quiz.”

Kennedy asked one nominee of President Joe Biden who later won confirmation, Sara E. Hill, to define collateral estoppel, to contrast a stay order with an injunction, to explain multidistrict litigation and to answer questions about constitutional amendments, ABC 15 News reported in November.

But some nominees asked to withdraw their nominations following Kennedy’s questioning. Charnelle Bjelkengren, another nominee of Biden, was one of them. According to Bloomberg Law, she “flubbed a quiz about Articles II and V of the U.S. Constitution.”

Another was former Federal Election Commission chair Matthew Petersen, a nominee of former President Donald Trump. According to Bloomberg Law, he “wasn’t able to answer any Kennedy questions about trial procedure and the law. Petersen had exclusively practiced administrative law and never tried a case.”

Kennedy told Bloomberg Law that he taught law students for 15 years, “and these are the kinds of questions that I would expect my students to know the answer to.”

But critics say Kennedy’s quizzes don’t reflect the realities of judging.

Kennedy “doesn’t seem to recognize that judges have access to libraries,” said Jake Faleschini, justice program director at the Alliance for Justice, in an interview with Bloomberg Law. “It is far more important that judicial nominees have the humility and research skills to look up the issues in each case than to have memorized them before a hearing.”