Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) is denying an allegation from a former girlfriend that he offered her $5,000 to walk away from a wrongful termination complaint involving another House lawmaker, as part of a claim that surfaced less than a week before his primary election.
Cynthia West, the ex-girlfriend, accused Massie of offering her the money after she told him she planned to file a complaint against Victoria Spartz (R-IN), whose office had employed West for several weeks, as reported Wednesday by Axios. Massie has served since 2012.
In a statement provided to Military.com, Massie denied the allegation and said the claims were politically motivated.
“It’s sad that a week before this election people are making false and unsubstantiated allegations about me in an obvious attempt to influence the outcome of this election,” Massie said. “All the claims of inappropriate conduct are false. I’ve never offered anyone money in exchange for their silence.
“I report all of my farm income, including cash, to the IRS. There are no ethics claims filed against me, nor have there ever been any claims filed against me in my 14 years in office. I have consulted legal counsel and we are considering all options.”
Military.com reached out to the White House for comment, as well as West, Gallrein’s campaign and Carey.
The allegation lands in the final days of one of the country’s most closely watched Republican primaries, where Massie faces Donald Trump-backed challenger Ed Gallrein, a retired Navy SEAL. Trump has targeted Massie after the Kentucky Republican broke with him on key votes and helped lead a bipartisan push to force the release of government files related to Jeffrey Epstein.
Big donors have lined up to support Gallrein. Last week, Massie told Tucker Carlson on the Tucker Carlson Show that “at least” 95% of the funding backing his opponent comes from pro-Israel lobbying groups.
How Allegations Began, Were Injected Into Race
West told Axios that she began dating Massie after he contacted her on X in August 2024, shortly after the death of his wife. She said Massie later helped arrange a temporary job for her in Spartz’s office so she could be in Washington while he was there.
According to West, she broke up with Massie in January 2025 and was later let go from Spartz’s office. She alleged she was fired after raising concerns about the office environment and other matters involving Spartz’s office.
Per Axios’s reporting, West was offered a proposed $60,000 settlement in March tied to her wrongful termination complaint, though refused to sign it because it included a nondisclosure agreement.
A spokesperson for Spartz told Axios that the office could not comment on the details of West’s pending allegations, but confirmed West held a temporary 90-day probationary position and said her employment “was not extended beyond that period due to unsatisfactory job performance.”
West said the alleged $5,000 offer from Massie was tied to cash he previously gave her during their relationship. She told Axios that Massie had given her $10,000 in an envelope of $100 bills when they first began dating as a form of financial security if she left her job to work for Spartz. West said she later returned the money to Massie.
Massie also addressed the allegation Thursday morning on the Tom Roten Morning Show, calling the claims politically motivated and saying they were timed to damage him ahead of the primary.
“The reason they do it right before the election is because you don’t really have time to get the rebuttal out there,” Massie said on the show. He also accused attorneys involved in publicizing the allegations of targeting him politically, saying they “tried to do a smear job on me.”
West told Axios she decided to speak publicly in part because of Massie’s push for transparency on the Epstein files. Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna, (D-CA), led the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which passed the House in November after Massie gathered enough signatures on a discharge petition to force a vote.
Massie tied the timing of the allegation to the start of early voting in Kentucky.
“Today is the first day that you can vote in person with no excuse,” Massie said on the show, urging voters to “just look at my record.”
Kentucky voters will choose between Massie and Gallrein in the May 19 Republican primary. The race will test whether Republican voters in Massie’s district will remain loyal to both Trump and Massie, even as Trump has endorsed Gallrein and attacked the incumbent.
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