NEWS
Former U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema Faces Lawsuit Over Alleged Affair With Security Detail Member
Former U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema can be sued under North Carolina’s so-called “homewrecker law” over her alleged relationship with a former member of her security detail, a federal judge has ruled.
U.S. District Judge David A. Bragdon on Friday rejected Sinema’s attempt to have the lawsuit dismissed on jurisdictional grounds, ruling that North Carolina courts can exercise jurisdiction over her based on communications she had with Matthew Ammel while he was in the state.
Sinema has acknowledged that she had a romantic relationship with Ammel, but her legal team argued that she could not be sued in North Carolina because she had no sufficient connection to the state.
Judge Bragdon disagreed, pointing to nine text messages Sinema sent to Ammel while he was in North Carolina. The judge found it difficult to accept that Sinema did not know Ammel’s location at the time the messages were exchanged, concluding that the communications provided a basis for North Carolina jurisdiction.
Sinema’s attorney, Steven Epstein, had not immediately responded to an email seeking comment on the ruling.
The lawsuit was filed by Ammel’s former wife, Heather Ammel, who is seeking financial damages from Sinema over the alleged interference in her marriage.
North Carolina is among a small number of U.S. states where so-called alienation-of-affection laws remain in effect. The laws allow a spouse to seek damages from a third party accused of intentionally interfering in a marriage and contributing to its breakdown.
According to Heather Ammel’s lawsuit, she and Matthew Ammel had maintained a loving and stable marriage before Sinema allegedly became involved with him. She accuses the former senator of pursuing Ammel despite knowing that he was married.
Matthew Ammel reportedly joined Sinema’s security team after retiring from the U.S. Army in 2022. His role involved accompanying Sinema on domestic and international trips, according to the lawsuit.
The relationship allegedly came to light in early 2024 when Heather Ammel discovered what the lawsuit describes as romantic and sexually suggestive messages exchanged between her husband and Sinema through the encrypted Signal messaging platform.
The lawsuit further alleges that several months later, Matthew Ammel stopped wearing his wedding ring. Around the same period, Sinema reportedly offered him a position as a national security fellow in her Senate office while he continued working for her campaign as a bodyguard.
The case now moves forward after the judge’s ruling, potentially setting the stage for a closer examination of the circumstances surrounding Sinema and Ammel’s relationship and its alleged impact on Ammel’s marriage.
Sinema, who represented Arizona in the U.S. House before serving one term in the U.S. Senate, left the Senate early last year after her tenure came to an end. The lawsuit adds an unusual legal controversy to the former senator’s post-Congressional career, with its outcome potentially testing the continued reach of North Carolina’s centuries-old aliena
tion-of-affection law.