7 May 28th - June 3rd, 2026 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | Claim Game Warren Petersen allies are pushing decades-old, unproven sex claim about attorney general race rival Rodney Glassman. BY STEPHEN LEMONS F or months, political operatives have passed around a docu- ment containing explosive alle- gations about Rodney Glassman, a GOP candidate for Arizona Attorney General. For the most part, the document has remained the subject of rumor and gossip among polit- ical insiders. Until recently, that is. Last week, the document’s allegations — which detail sexual misconduct claims from decades ago that are nearly impossible to verify independently — were pushed into broad daylight. And fans of Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen, Glassman’s challenger for the GOP nomination, have been among those doing the pushing. Last week, the allegation landed at the Arizona Attorney General’s Office in the form of a citizen complaint, which was quickly deflected. The lead-up to that official filing is a case study in contempo- rary Arizona politics. In a video filmed May 13 at a Glassman meet-and-greet at Rudy’s Bar-B-Q in Scottsdale, Republican social media activist Gaby Biggs asked the 48-year-old Glassman to respond to allegations that he had “raped” his brother Jeremy, now 41, when Jeremy “was a kid.” In response, Glassman stood silent with his hands on his hips as a member of the audience objected to the inquiry as a “gotcha” question. “Can we go to the next one?” Glassman asked. The video, which has garnered more than 122,000 views on X so far, was posted by Manuela Callini, who described herself to Phoenix New Times as a Scottsdale mom and businesswoman with no connection to the Petersen campaign. The following day, Callini posted audio to X of what she later told New Times was her questioning Glassman at a Superstition Mountain Republican Club meeting about “very serious allegations that have surfaced on X.” Though Callini was intentionally obscure in her question, Glassman was acutely aware of the nature of the allegations. This time, he had a response prepared. “I’m not going to respond to that garbage,” Glassman said in the audio. “It’s bullshit.” Glassman blamed the “attacks” on Petersen and noted that Callini had been at the Rudy’s event as well. Callini told Glassman she was not affiliated with Petersen but was attending only as a “mom,” adding, “I’m going to the next event to ask the same question until I get an answer.” New Times reached out to Glassman, his brother Jeremy and Jeremy’s attorney, Tiffany & Bosco’s Lance Broberg, who press accounts say doubles as attorney for Glassman’s political campaign. Broberg said he could not discuss the matter, and Rodney Glassman has not responded. However, Jeremy Glassman sent New Times a state- ment denying the allegations and blaming a former business associate named Mike von Gold. “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 The GOP candidates for Arizona Attorney General: Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen (left) and Rodney Glassman (right). (Gage Skidmore/Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0) >> p 9 | NEWS |
