A Florida woman has accused U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie of offering her $5,000 in hush money last year. But the details are complicated and she’s provided no proof of the allegations.
The accusation comes a week before a contentious primary election in Kentucky where President Donald Trump has endorsed Republican challenger Ed Gallrein over Massie.
The race is one of the most-watched in the country and a test of Trump’s influence over the party. He has vowed to oust Massie – who until this year has coasted to reelection – due to Massie’s criticism of the president over the Epstein files, the Iran war and government spending.
Three of the people connected with the release of the allegations are former Republican primary opponents of Massie.
“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, a Garrison Republican, said in a statement to The Enquirer.
Here’s what we know about the accusations:
Who is Cynthia West?
Cynthia West was interviewed in a video posted to a website called Conceived in Liberty.
West said she and Massie were in a romantic relationship from 2024-2025, after his wife Rhonda Massie died unexpectedly. Massie has not said what their relationship was and did not immediately respond to a question about it. Axios, which reported the story May 13, described West as Massie’s “former girlfriend.”
She said the $5,000 offer from Massie occurred after the two broke up.
West described herself as a single mom and social worker who’s also running for Okaloosa County School Board in the Florida panhandle.
The Enquirer has been in contact with West for this article. She said she would consider an interview but did not respond to follow-up text messages.
“It took serious courage for Cynthia West to stand up and speak publicly knowing exactly what kind of political machine would come after her,” her spokesman Rob Wilbur told The Enquirer in a statement.
He went on to say, “Thomas Massie spent months screaming about ‘transparency’ and ‘accountability’ over the Epstein files, but the second allegations hit close to home, suddenly we’re all just supposed to shut up.”
What was her relationship with Massie?
In the video, West said Massie asked her to move to Washington, D.C. to be closer to him.
She said Massie got her a job with U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz, of Indiana, who was ranked one of the “worst bosses” on Capitol Hill in 2022.
West previously worked as a staffer for former Florida U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney in 2013, according to LegiStorm.
Despite some concerns, West said she took the job and made the move. But, she said she broke up with Massie after he asked her to “engage in behavior that I just, I wasn’t comfortable.”
She also called him “emotionally abusive.” She provided no details about either of the claims.
What’s the hush money allegation?
West said she was fired via text from Spartz’s office after she and Massie broke up. She’s not sure why she was fired.
But West added in the video, “She was engaging in behavior that I was concerned about and so I believe that is why I was fired.”
West said she filed a complaint against Spartz with the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights and listed Massie as a witness to her complaint.
She said Massie became angry when she told him about the complaint.
“He had $5,000 that he said that he would give me if I would just walk away. I didn’t take it, though,” she said.
West said the money was offered to her in cash.
Who’s behind the video?
Semi-retired attorney Marc Carey, who lives in Owen County, is behind the release of the video.
Carey ran for office in the 2012 congressional Republican primary, which Massie won. But he told The Enquirer, while he disagrees with Massie’s politics, his role in the video release isn’t political.
“I’ve never said anything about him that is personal. I’ve been critical of him, but that’s politics,” he said.
Political firebrand Eric Deters, former attorney and host of the online Eric Deters Show, also promoted the allegations on his social media.
Deters, of Independence, ran for office against Massie in 2024 and lost.
The interview was held at attorney Todd McMurtry’s office in Crescent Springs. He told The Enquirer he provided a notary to swear in the witness.
McMurtry ran against Massie in the 2020 Republican primary.
Was West under oath in the statement?
People who’ve been sworn under oath face legal repercussions if they lie.
In the video, Carey said West was “under oath (and) on the record.” But the video does not include West being placed under oath.
Carey said that was an editorial decision and he didn’t think it was relevant to West’s account. He’s been an attorney in Northern Kentucky for decades.
West said on video she is not working with any candidates or political affiliations. She also said she has not been paid or received anything of value for sharing her story.
What does Massie’s team say?
Massie said in a statement to The Enquirer that West’s claims of inappropriate conduct are false.
“I’ve never offered anyone money in exchange for their silence,” he said.
He went on to say no ethics claims have ever been filed against him since he joined Congress 14 years ago.
“I have consulted legal counsel and we are considering all options,” he said.
State Rep. Steve Doan, an Erlanger Republican, defended Massie in an online social media post.
“After listening to the statement twice, I was struck by the complete absence of any specific, verifiable allegations,” he wrote. “There were no claims of physical abuse, no harassing communications, no documented threats, and no evidence of any kind — only vague assertions without supporting facts.”
He also pointed to a 2024 court filing West submitted asking a Florida judge for a temporary injunction for protection against domestic violence. But the request was dismissed due to insufficient evidence.
“False claims like these do real harm — not just to the accused, but to every legitimate victim seeking justice,” Doan wrote.
What’s next?
West said she was offered a $60,000 settlement for “retaliatory discharge” from Spartz’s office.
But the settlement, she said in the video, requires her to sign a nondisclosure agreement, which she said she would not do.
“I’ve spent so much time fighting for transparency and justice and accountability that if I did this then I would call into question my own accountability,” she said.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Alleged hush money video shakes up Massie race days before primary
Reporting by Jolene Almendarez, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
