A former congressional aide now running for school board in Florida is accusing Rep. Thomas Massie (R., Ky.) of offering her thousands of dollars to conceal their romantic relationship, which she says began just months after Massie's first wife died. The woman, Cynthia West, said Massie got her a job on Capitol Hill from which she was dismissed after refusing his requests to "engage in behavior" that she "wasn't comfortable" with.
West detailed the allegations in a video interview with Kentucky attorney Marcus Carey. She said Massie first messaged her on X in mid-August 2024, less than two months after the death of his high school sweetheart and wife of more than 30 years. The pair formed a "very romantic, intense relationship," according to West, who said she visited Massie at his home in Kentucky and went on "trips" with him, including to South Africa, where Massie addressed the Libertarian Society of South Africa in late November 2024.
Around that time, West says, Massie asked her to move to Washington, D.C., securing her a job in the office of Rep. Victoria Spartz (R., Ind.), a close friend of Massie's who backed him for House speaker and attended his wedding. Shortly after she started the job, West said Massie began asking her to "engage in behavior" that she "wasn't comfortable with," so she "ended up breaking off the relationship." She was then fired from Spartz's office after "six weeks" on the job, she said, prompting her to file a complaint with the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights for "retaliatory discharge."
According to West, she informed Massie that she had named him as a witness in the complaint, "and he was very angry," offering her $5,000 to "just walk away." West declined Massie's offer as well as a $60,000 offer from the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights "to settle the case," she said. The settlement offer would have required West to sign a non-disclosure agreement, something she said she "can't do."
Congressional records corroborate some elements of West's story. They show that West indeed worked for Spartz's office, which paid West $17,111.10 over the course of 12 weeks—between January 1, 2025, and March 31, 2025—for work as "Director of Operations and Scheduling." A spokesman for Spartz said West "held a temporary 90-day probationary position with our office, and her employment was not extended beyond that period due to unsatisfactory job performance," adding that the office "cannot comment on the details of Ms. West's pending allegations," an indication that West may have filed a formal complaint.
The allegations come as Massie, a bitter Trump foe, faces a high-profile primary fight against the Trump-backed retired Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein. Massie routinely votes against legislation the White House supports, prompting Trump to describe him as the "worst Republican Congressman" and an "almost guaranteed NO VOTE each and every time."
Trump has also questioned the circumstances surrounding Massie's remarriage to Carolyn Grace Moffa, a former staffer for Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) whom Massie met "over a decade ago," when Moffa was in her mid-20s and Massie in his mid-40s. The pair wed in October 2025, about a year after the death of Massie's first wife.
"Did Thomas Massie, sometimes referred to as Rand Paul Jr., because of the fact that he always votes against the Republican Party, get married already???" Trump said in November. "Boy, that was quick!"
Massie's campaign declined to answer questions about West's allegations, pointing the Washington Free Beacon to Kentucky state representative Steven Doan, a "family law attorney" who criticized West in a Tuesday afternoon X post. Doan wrote that West made "vague assertions without supporting facts" and that she "has a documented history of making false abuse allegations," citing claims of domestic violence she made against her ex-husband. He did not address the veracity of West's claims about Massie.
In a phone interview with the Free Beacon, Doan said he did not have "any firsthand knowledge as to" West's job in Spartz's office or her relationship with Massie. But he accused West of working with Massie's political opponents, something West denied in her interview with Carey. He also suggested Massie did not offer West $5,000 to keep their relationship quiet because "that's too low of a price."
"Look, Thomas is in all likelihood a millionaire," Doan told the Free Beacon. "I've never asked the guy how much money he makes or how much he has. But you're not buying an NDA for $5,000. I mean, as an attorney that's had folks sign them before, that's too low of a price to be quite honest, given his profile."
The Office of Congressional Workplace Rights is known to offer settlements to congressional staffers who accuse their employers of discrimination or misconduct. Last year, for example, it paid out nearly $100,000 to settle an employment discrimination claim against the office of former Oregon congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer. The money comes from a Treasury Department account that receives appropriations to fund such settlements.
It's unclear to what extent Massie is implicated in any complaints West filed with the office. Doan told the Free Beacon that Massie is "not the subject of any investigation."
The Kentucky primary race is next Tuesday, with the winner almost certain to represent Kentucky's deep-red Fourth Congressional District. Gallrein has raised $3.1 million to Massie's $5.5 million and entered May with $543,000 on hand to Massie's $608,000.
West, for her part, is running for the Okaloosa County School Board in Florida, where she lives, against Brett Hinely, an appointee of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R.). In an April interview with Florida Politics, she emphasized a need for "transparency" in the county's schools.
