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| “ | Let me give you two a tip. I'm offering you something. Change your affect. Lean in. Feign interest... An ex-president. An ex-president's relatives. Hollywood royalty. Real royalty. Silicon Valley billionaires. What's your pleasure? | „ |
| ~ Gold offering to sell out his clients in return for having the charges against him dismissed. |
Myron Gold is the secondary antagonist of the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "And the Empire Strikes Back" and the main antagonist of the episode "Never Turn Your Back on Them". He is a ruthless, politically connected defense attorney who uses his political clout and ties to organized crime to make scandals involving himself and his clients go away, even if it means committing murder.
He was portrayed by Glenn Fleshler, who also portrayed Errol Childress in True Detective, One of the Smileys in Manhunt, Timur in Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony, Goran Pazar in Barry, and Cordell Doemling in the TV series Hannibal.
Overview[]
Gold is one of the most powerful, well-connected defense attorneys in the U.S., with ties to every major power player in the country, as well as to organized crime. He is especially good at finding out the dirty little secrets of the rich and powerful, holding on to them to use as leverage in negotiations for his clients, and to use himself should he ever find himself in legal peril.
His biggest client is Justin Howard, a right-wing U.S. Congressman with designs on the presidency. Gold serves as Howard's fixer, making sure that his multiple sexual relationships with teenage girls remain a secret by disposing of evidence and paying off potential accusers to keep quiet.
Appearances[]
In "And the Empire Strikes Back"[]
When Howard is arrested for attempting to rape 16-year-old Jenna Evans and tied to a sex trafficking ring run by corrupt philanthropist Catalina Machado, Gold arrives to represent him. During Howard's police interrogation, Gold tells Captain Olivia Benson of the NYPD's Special Victims Unit and Assistant District Attorney Dominick Carisi Jr. that Howard thought Jenna was 18 and that she must have taken drugs without his knowledge. When they respond with skepticism, he accuses them of pursuing his client for publicity.
At Howard's arraignment, Gold gets him released on his own recognizance by promising the judge he will surrender his passport, and then holds a press conference with his client accusing the NYPD and the District Attorney's office of persecuting him as part of a "witch hunt" against conservative politicians.
A few days later, Gold and Howard meet with Benson and Carisi, offering Howard's testimony against Machado in return for dropping the charges against him. Carisi refuses, however, saying that he will only make a deal in which Howard pleads guilty to statutory rape and sex trafficking and goes on the sex offender registry. When Howard angrily refuses and starts insulting Benson and Carisi, Gold tells him to shut up and asks to have a private conversation with his client. Outside the conference room, Gold berates Howard for his recklessness and stupidity, and slaps him in the face.
That night, Machado, her underling Paulie Banducci, and Howard's campaign manager Ruben Ortiz - who had all made deals to testify against Howard - are murdered by men working for Gold, leaving the case against Howard in jeopardy.
In "Never Turn Your Back on Them"[]
Gold strong-arms Jenna into saying that Howard did not behave inappropriately with her; it is implied that he either bribed or threatened her. He then holds another press conference with Howard, who accuses the NYPD and the DA's office of pressuring Machado, Banducci, and Ortiz into making false accusations against him.
Jenna's mother, however, comes forward and tells Benson that Howard raped Jenna when she was 15 and got her pregnant, and then forced her to have an abortion; she also produces one of Jenna's dresses, which has Howard's semen on it.
Gold and Howard meet again with Benson and Carisi, and a panicked Howard implicates himself by saying that Jenna's baby could not have been his because he "always pulls out". He then tries to blame everything on Gold, who sees that Howard is now a liability and tells Benson and Carisi that anything his client says will be inadmissible at trial because it was said without the presence of his lawyer; he then gets up and leaves, abandoning Howard to his fate. Howard later pleads guilty to statutory rape and sex trafficking and goes to prison, but not before telling Benson and Carisi that Gold was behind the murders and arranged for Jenna to have an abortion.
Benson orders a raid of Gold's office, but she finds that all his computer files are encrypted and his finances are so complex that it would take months, if not years, to find evidence that he paid for any crimes to be committed. Carisi and U.S. Attorney Anya Avital question Gold about the murders, threatening to tear his life apart until they find the evidence they need. Unmoved, Gold instead offers them a deal: He will tell them everything he knows about all his clients - including tech billionaires, movie stars, royalty, and even a former president and his family - in return for them dropping the case against him.
Carisi does not want to make any deals with Gold, but Avital takes the decision out of his hands by letting Gold go without pressing charges, meaning that he will not have to reveal anything about his clients. Carisi later speculates that Gold only made the offer so his rich and powerful friends would hear about it and pull strings to get the case against him dropped in order to preserve their secrets.
External links[]
- Myron Gold on the Law & Order Wiki
