Former Arizona Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is expected to give testimony this month in a lawsuit centered on her alleged relationship with a married former bodyguard.
The claims are detailed in court filings tied to a so-called “homewrecker” case brought by Heather Ammel, who alleges Sinema deliberately interfered in her nearly 15-year marriage to Matthew Ammel, the father of her three children.
The case could deliver a high-profile courtroom moment, with Sinema expected to appear in person. However, she may still choose to submit a recorded deposition or provide written testimony instead.
Sinema, long known for her vivid fashion sense and public visibility, has rarely been a political figure who fades quietly into the background.
Heather Ammel filed suit against Sinema last year, accusing the former senator of “deliberate” and “malicious” conduct in pursuing her husband. She is seeking more than $25,000 in damages, along with punitive damages tied to the alleged harm.
If the lawsuit moves forward, Sinema could potentially face a far larger financial judgment. That is because Matthew Ammel, the former security guard who later became romantically linked to her, was living in North Carolina at the time.
North Carolina remains one of only six states in the U.S. that still permits spouses to file certain lawsuits related to infidelity, including claims rooted in a 19th-century legal doctrine that has survived into modern courtrooms.
Cases brought under North Carolina’s “alienation of affection” law have produced striking awards in recent years, with some verdicts reaching into the millions as juries granted both compensatory and punitive damages.
‘I keep waking up during my sleep and reaching over for your arms to hold me,’ Sinema told Ammel in 2024, according to the complaint – around the same time Matthew Ammel allegedly stopped wearing his wedding ring. ‘
The Democratic-turned-independent politician was sued for ‘alienation of affection’ by the ex-wife of her former bodyguard
Matthew Ammel in a family photo with what appears to be his young son
Are you having an affair with my husband?’ Heather responded, according to the complaint. ‘You took a married man away from his family,’ she added.
The lawsuit and filings reveal a comprehensive timeline of their relationship and affair, which Sinema acknowledged included dalliances in several US states, and trips to Sonoma County and Miami, where they attended a Taylor Swift concert with Ammel’s children, and Heather, in tow.
On one occasion, Sinema offered to ‘work on’ Ammel’s back with a Theragun. On another, she allegedly suggested he bring MDMA on a work trip, where she offered to ‘guide him through a psychedelic experience’ – though Sinema denied those instances.
‘I keep waking up during my sleep and reaching over for your arms to hold me,’ Sinema wrote to Ammel on Signal in June 2024 – around the time he allegedly stopped wearing his wedding ring.
The affair ran for months across phone calls, emails and Signal messages, with meetings in several states, according to court documents.
Sinema’s lawyers have not denied the affair took place. Instead, the dispute centers on whether the affair took place in the state of North Carolina.
A unique North Carolina law allows for a plaintiff to sue for alienation of affection via ‘wrongful and malicious conduct’, for example, an affair.
Former senator Kyrsten Sinema watches Matthew Ammel, her former bodyguard, with whom she had an affair, testify before the Arizona legislature in February 2024. They first became intimate in May of that year
Sinema walks to meet Senator Chuck Schumer in the US Senate
Sinema speaks to colleagues in the US Senate
Sinema speaks at the US capitol
Heather Ammel’s lawyers argued that enough communication took place while he was physically in North Carolina.
She said in a written declaration that she was at their ‘marital residence’ when Sinema ‘sent a photo of herself wrapped in a towel.’ ‘I was standing in our kitchen when I read the message,’ she said.
In order to succeed, plaintiffs suing under the law must satisfy a difficult burden of proof. First, they must show that their marriage had ‘real affection’ and a viable relationship before any third-party involvement.
Second, they must demonstrate that the ‘love and affection’ in their marriage was destroyed, or significantly diminished; and finally, that the defendant in question directly ’caused the destruction of that marital love and affection.’
The complaint against Sinema accused her of engaging in ‘intentional and malicious interference’ in Ammel’s marriage and sought $25,000 in damages from Sinema as a result of the allegedly ‘willful and wanton’ conduct, as well as punitive damages.
In 2010, a jury in North Carolina awarded plaintiff Cynthia Shackelford a total of $9 million in compensatory and punitive damages for an alienation of affection lawsuit against the husband’s alleged mistress.
More recently, in 2018, a Durham County judge ordered some $8.8 million in damages be paid out to BMX show owner Keith King from the man King accused of stealing his wife – and ruining his company.
Neither Sinema nor her lawyers responded to the Daily Mail’s request for comment.
