Actor Tobey Maguire testified Wednesday in the Maryland federal court case against former SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein, explaining that he redirected a $500,000 payment for Goldstein’s legal services to another poker player owed money by Goldstein, rather than paying Goldstein’s law firm directly. The testimony is a key component of the government’s tax fraud allegations against Goldstein, who prosecutors claim hid millions of dollars from the IRS, much of it linked to his high-stakes poker activities between 2016 and 2021.
Maguire told the jury that he first met Goldstein through poker circles around 2019. The actor said he only engaged Goldstein’s services after winning over $15 million from banker Andy Beal in December 2019 and encountering a partial refusal by Beal to pay the full amount. “He offered to pay a fraction of what he owed,” Maguire said, noting that he declined the offer. After receiving the remaining payment in mid-2021, Maguire said he wired $500,000 for legal fees to Goldstein’s creditor, Bob Safai, instead of the law firm, as Goldstein reportedly owed Safai money from his own gambling debts.
While Maguire’s testimony did not directly prove whether Goldstein reported the $500,000 on his taxes, prosecutors allege that Goldstein failed to disclose the fee to his law firm’s office manager or accounting firm, forming part of the broader tax evasion charges.
The trial also featured testimony from IRS civil revenue officer Yvette Parrish, who outlined efforts to create a payment plan for Goldstein’s outstanding 2016 and 2017 taxes. Parrish testified that Goldstein did not disclose his poker activities or debts to her, and at one point attempted to reduce his installment payments by inflating monthly expenses, such as claiming $14,000 per month for childcare. Parrish rejected these claims.
Goldstein’s defense argued that the IRS could have identified his gambling activities through prior audits and that Goldstein ultimately paid the full tax amounts owed, raising questions about the extent of any alleged evasion.
The trial has also drawn attention to subpoenas issued to journalists, including legal commentator Jeffrey Toobin and a New York Times fact-checker, regarding Goldstein’s statements in a December 2025 feature. Both journalists have opposed the subpoenas, calling them intrusive and potentially chilling to future reporting, while prosecutors contend the testimony would be limited to confirming Goldstein’s statements rather than probing journalistic methods.
Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby has said both sides, including Goldstein’s counsel, will have an opportunity to be heard before any decision on the subpoenas is finalized.
Goldstein is represented by Jonathan Kravis, Stephany Reaves, Sarah Weiner, and Adeel Mohammadi of Munger Tolles & Olson LLP. The U.S. government is represented by prosecutors Kelly O. Hayes and Adeyemi Adenrele from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, along with Sean Beaty, Hayter Whitman, and Emerson Gordon-Marvin from the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division.
The case, U.S. v. Goldstein, continues in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland under case number 8:25-cr-00006.
