Phone calls to Ben Goldberg are among the bizarre episodes recorded during Todd Johnson’s alleged assault on a Rittenhouse defense witness in Tucson, Arizona on December 8, 2021.
In one call, Goldberg says he is on the phone with Johnson, and that Johnson is investigating the Rittenhouse civil case. Goldberg hangs up abruptly after the witness says she needs to talk to him.
Johnson calls him back. The witness asks Goldberg to make note of her name, the fact that she is a Rittenhouse witness, and that she’s in Johnson’s hotel room.
She tells Goldberg that Johnson thinks she’s a federal agent. She asks: “Do you understand that?” He says he understands. Soon after, he hangs up again.
Later, the woman told a journalist that she was trying to appeal to Goldberg for help, thinking he might have been somewhere in the hotel.
Who is Ben Goldberg? While the recording suggests that he could be Todd Johnson’s lawyer, Goldberg is chairperson of the Long Beach Area Republicans. Photos on Goldberg’s social media suggest that he and Johnson have known each other for years. Goldberg is accustomed, perhaps, to hearing about sordid hotel-room scenes involving his infamous pal.
Goldberg, like Johnson, has friends in high places. On March 1, 2022, Long Beach Area Republicans hosted a “Law & Order” event featuring guest speaker L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva.
Villanueva was elected by liberal-leaning Los Angeles voters who thought he would reform a troubled department. But he came under fire for denying the existence of criminal gangs within the sheriff’s department, and is accused of dedicating a team of investigators to attack his political opponents. Villanueva has thrown his arms around right-wing voters as he seeks re-election. Goldberg posted a photo of himself alongside the embattled sheriff.
Who is Ben Goldberg? A friend of LEOs who are beyond the law, it seems.