21 car century insurance: Hit job on Massie falls apart

View in browser

Well, that was fast.

Yesterday a story went viral involving a "Cynthia West," who made a series of allegations against Rep. Thomas Massie in an interview released one week before his primary election -- you know, the precise moment when any normal and truthful person makes allegations.

It was all very salacious: wrongful termination, hush money, and a whiff of scandal.

By this morning the thing has all but collapsed.

The claim is this: Massie is alleged to have gotten West fired from a 90-day probationary position in the office of Rep. Victoria Spartz in retaliation for breaking up with him (yes, it's high school drama), and West in turn filed a wrongful-termination complaint.

Spartz's office, wanting to be rid of a woman they obviously considered crazy (the office described it diplomatically as "concerning conduct by Ms. West"), offered her $60,000. Massie is alleged to have offered her a separate $5000 to drop the complaint.

Here's what we now know.

West's own friend, whom West refers to as "Anna from Savannah" in her remarks, has since released her own statement, which contradicts West's version of events:

I normally stay out of political drama, but since I was the “friend in Savannah” Cynthia referenced, I feel obligated to speak honestly about what I personally witnessed.

Thomas and Cynthia visited my home in Savannah after the passing of his wife. From my recollection, it had only been a few months, and he was clearly heartbroken and grieving. I specifically remember conversations by the pool where he talked about how deeply the loss affected him. He did not come across as someone acting recklessly or maliciously. He was kind to Cynthia, respectful, and they appeared happy together at the time.

I also personally knew Cynthia was going through a very difficult divorce during that period and was unhappy with her legal representation. To my recollection, the $5,000 Thomas gave or lent her was related to helping her obtain a different attorney during that divorce situation — not “hush money.”

Separately, Cynthia had ongoing workplace complaints involving Rep. Spartz’s office that she discussed long before any of this current public controversy. From what I understood at the time, those issues were about what she described as a toxic work environment and had nothing to do with Thomas.

I am not speaking on politics, campaigns, or what may or may not be happening behind the scenes. I can only speak to what I personally observed. Based on my own experience around both of them, the timing of these allegations -- one week before an election -- feels very strange to me.

Then we read this, from Rep. Spartz's office:

Rep. Spartz has never heard of an alleged $5,000 settlement proposal -- or any other settlement proposal -- by Rep. Massie regarding allegations Ms. West brought against Rep. Spartz’s office. The first time Rep. Spartz heard these accusations by Ms. West against Rep. Massie was a few days ago in Ms. West’s public video.

On a personal level, Rep. Spartz considers Thomas Massie to be one of the strongest supporters of women in Congress and a defender of women’s rights among her GOP colleagues. Rep. Spartz has seen him in action.

Ms. West was not terminated by our office; rather, her temporary employment was not extended beyond 90 days due to concerning conduct by Ms. West. A few months later, Ms. West brought allegations against Rep. Spartz’s office, which Rep. Spartz denied and refused to settle during the pre-filing period.

Recently, due to delays and other circumstances in this case, Rep. Spartz was willing to reconsider settlement discussions in order to save taxpayer money and mitigate disruptions to the operation of the office. At no point did Rep. Spartz try to force Ms. West into a non-disclosure agreement.

On the contrary, Rep. Spartz would be happy to publicly disclose all aspects of these allegations, the circumstances surrounding Ms. West’s employment, and how this process is structured in Congress, if permitted to do so.

Massie himself denies the allegations, and since that denial has also pointed out that "the contrived and false deposition released just one week before my election was conducted by Carey who lost to me in 2012, in the law office of McMurtry who lost to me in 2020, and posted immediately by Deters who lost to me in 2024."

Does that alone make it false? Of course not. But if it were a hatchet job, this is what it would look like.

We've also seen (because the Internet is forever) that for months afterward, "Cynthia West" interacted with Massie in a friendly and playful way on X. Nothing has changed between those friendly posts and now, except that Massie is in less than a week facing a contentious primary in which socially leftist billionaires have been playing dirty tricks on him (including an AI-generated ad showing him holding hands with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez -- the elderly audience the billionaires are targeting won't realize it's AI).

A story this weak isn't intended to turn people against Massie. It's instead intended to demoralize the Massie base.

I don't care if you hate Massie's guts for some reason: you cannot support this. Socially leftist billionaires are trying to buy a congressional seat and put a ridiculous empty suit in it. There is zero chance that empty suit, a total nonentity, would have gone up against Anthony Fauci, or Merrick Garland, or anyone else.

I've already maxed out to Massie, because I put my money where my mouth is.

Kentucky, do the right thing.

Now, for something a little happier:

(1) With the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence coming up, I highly recommend Brad Birzer's new book The Declaration of Independence, written for the occasion.

Reading some good American history is a great way to prepare for that important milestone, and Professor Birzer will ground you in the intellectual history (as well as the day-to-day events) you need in order to appreciate and understand that document the way a true American patriot should.

Not an affiliate link; just helping a friend (Brad was a groomsman at my wedding!) spread the word about an excellent book I know you'll enjoy. Click here to check it out.

(Professor Birzer and I were up for the same job at Hillsdale College back in 1999, and he was hired over me. See what a good sport ol' Woods is?)

(2) I am slightly neurotic about being in my 50s -- I still have so much I want to do, and I want to stay in the best health I can. That includes my brain health.

That's why I keep my brain active in a bunch of different ways. Not just in my daily reading and writing, but also in learning a musical instrument, studying great chess games (I'm working my way through what Bobby Fischer called his 60 memorable games), and learning foreign languages.

Yes, of course the languages have practical use, but just as important to me is that it gives my brain a different kind of workout from anything else I do.

Do I have ironclad proof that this will lower my chances of Alzheimer's? No. But it makes sense to me.

So: the program I use is called Rocket Languages, and today only, just for the next 54 courses they sell, they're taking 60% off. That doesn't give you a lot of time, so go keep your brain sharp and learn something valuable and fun at the same time:

https://www.tomwoods.com/rocket

Tom Woods