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Zach Buchanan @zhbuchanan.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

The claim comes from an affidavit written by Mike von Gold, a former friend of Glassman's younger brother, Jeremy. In it, Von Gold claims Jeremy confessed that his older brother sexually abused him as a minor. Story: www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/arizona...

At the root of the allegations are the claims made by Von Gold, a former friend and business associate of Jeremy Glassman. In a February affidavit that has circulated in political circles — and which has since been posted online, albeit in heavily redacted form, by Republican activist and Petersen ally Merissa Caldwell — Von Gold claimed that Jeremy Glassman confessed to him that his older brother had sexually abused him when he was a child. Von Gold has also shared purported audio of a Glassman-associated attorney saying that Jeremy Glassman had told him the same thing.

For several months, New Times has been looking into the affidavit, which a confidential source provided earlier this year. New Times has also spoken to Von Gold, whose allegations against Rodney Glassman are neither ironclad nor gossamer-thin. They are old, unproven and second-hand. And considering that he is also seeking money from the Glassman family to settle an old business grievance, Von Gold is motivated both financially and by a desire for what he calls “justice.”

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Zach Buchanan @zhbuchanan.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Jeremy Glassman vehemently denied the allegations and accused Mike Von Gold of attempting to extort his family. Story: www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/arizona...

“These allegations being spread around on the internet are false,” Jeremy Glassman wrote. “Mr. Von Gold used to work for me and my company and he has been trying to extort me for quite some time, most recently demanding $500,000. He’s now using my brother’s campaign as another avenue to try to escalate his attempt at extortion. I have filed a criminal complaint with the city of Tempe against Mr. Von Gold. I intend to prosecute fully any and all claims against anyone who aids this individual or publishes false and defamatory statements regarding this matter.”

The Tempe Police Department confirmed that someone named Jeremy Glassman has filed a report, but did not provide any further details or the report. New Times has placed a public records request for the report but has not yet received it.

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Zach Buchanan @zhbuchanan.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Last week, the affidavit was promoted by prominent Petersen supporters. Petersen denied having anything to do with it. But he's known about the affidavit for months and recently called New Times to ask whether it would be written about. Story: www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/arizona...

Petersen insists his hands are clean of the charge of circulating the allegations against Glassman. Yet he hasn’t shied away from hitting his opponent over the head with them.

“The information didn’t come from my campaign,” Petersen said when New Times contacted him. “But shouldn’t Glassman be more worried about answering why three credible people have now said that he sexually abused children?”

Asked who these “three credible people” were, Petersen mentioned Von Gold, Nazarian and “the woman from Tucson” — apparently the one mentioned in Caldwell’s affidavit. However, he said he knew these people only from the affidavits released on social media, raising the question of how he could have ascertained their credibility.

New Times also asked Petersen if he was aware of the Von Gold affidavit prior to its publication. Petersen replied via text that “I heard some rumors.” But Petersen knew more than that. In fact, Petersen was aware of the Von Gold affidavit as early as late February, because Petersen knew that a confidential source supportive of his campaign had passed an unredacted copy to New Times. Indeed, Petersen recently contacted New Times to ask if the Von Gold affidavit would become the subject of news coverage.

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