Massie Denies Offering $5,000 to Quash Suit as Ex-Girlfriend Details Firing Claim
Updated
Updated · Fox News · May 14
Massie Denies Offering $5,000 to Quash Suit as Ex-Girlfriend Details Firing Claim
12 articles · Updated · Fox News · May 14
Cynthia West alleged Rep. Thomas Massie offered her $5,000 to drop a wrongful-termination case against Rep. Victoria Spartz after she named him as a witness, saying she refused the money.
Six weeks after starting a job in Spartz’s office that West says Massie arranged, she said she was fired after ending their relationship and later filed the complaint.
Massie called the accusations false and politically timed ahead of Kentucky’s May 19 Republican primary, saying he has never paid for anyone’s silence and is weighing legal options.
The Office of Congressional Ethics had earlier offered West $60,000 to settle, according to a proposed agreement, but she said she rejected it because it required a nondisclosure clause.
The allegations land as early voting is underway in Massie’s closely watched race against Trump-backed challenger Ed Gallrein, deepening pressure on a leading Republican critic of the president.
As new laws begin to challenge NDAs, can congressional settlements still shield misconduct allegations from public view?
Why would an ethics office offer a $60,000 settlement for a complaint that is described as completely baseless?
What does a history of high staff turnover reveal about workplace culture and accountability in Congress?