The last time you probably thought about Kyrsten Sinema was when she and her sequin pencil skirts retired after a single term in the Senate. Well, she’s back in the news, and this time it’s because she’s getting sued for allegedly having an affair with a member of her security team.
Let’s back up for a second. Sinema, you may recall, was elected as a Democrat in 2018 but switched to independent in 2022 after repeatedly breaking with her own party and siding with Republicans. As it turns out, Republicanism may not have been the only thing she was covertly flirting with. According to a lawsuit that was initially filed in North Carolina in September but moved to federal court Tuesday, Sinema is accused of having had an affair with a member of her own security detail, Matthew Ammel, who at the time was married with three kids. His now ex-wife, Heather Ammel, is suing Sinema for $25,000 on the grounds of “alienation of affection,” a legal claim that essentially translates to breaking up a person’s marriage.
Per the lawsuit, Ammel began working on Sinema’s security team in April 2022, shortly after retiring from the Army. In the fall of 2023, his ex-wife claims in the lawsuit, Sinema began to “willfully and intentionally seduce” him. Around that time, Heather claims, her husband accompanied Sinema on a trip to Napa Valley, which he later told Heather “would have appeared as if they were on a romantic getaway” if anyone had seen them.
Heather said she discovered her husband’s messages to his boss on Signal in January 2024, which she alleged “exceeded the bounds of a normal working relationship and were of romantic and lascivious natures.” Among the messages were allegedly a photo of Sinema wrapped in a towel and an exchange in which they discussed missionary sex, which Sinema apparently called “Boring!” In another message, Sinema allegedly suggested Matthew Ammel “bring MDMA drugs on a work trip so that she could guide him through a psychedelic experience.” As time went on, Sinema apparently began purchasing gifts for Ammel, including a Theragun, and at one point allegedly “messaged him to bring it over to her apartment so that she could ‘work on his back.’”
Throughout the alleged affair, Ammel frequently traveled with Sinema, which the lawsuit suggests went beyond the norm for a member of her team. Per the suit, he attended numerous concerts with her, including U2, Green Day, and Taylor Swift (the Swift concert was apparently also attended by his wife and children). In March 2024, Ammel worked security for Sinema at a music festival in Phoenix, where the lawsuit states Sinema got “handsy” with him. Afterward, Ammel told his wife about the incident but claimed he “didn’t know how to get out of the situation without offending” Sinema, the suit states. Soon after, they went on a work trip to San Francisco, where Sinema allegedly invited Ammel “into her hotel room, and they stayed together for hours.”
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By May or June 2024, Ammel stopped wearing his wedding ring, the lawsuit states, apparently telling his wife “it was best for ‘public optics’” so that it wouldn’t look like Sinema was “putting her hands on a married man when they were out at concerts and various other public events.” That June, he allegedly accompanied her to a wedding in New York City as both her “security and guest,” after which they allegedly flew to Arizona and “stayed together alone” at Sinema’s home in Scottsdale.
In the months that followed, Heather said she discovered more damning messages between her husband and his boss, and in October 2024, she responded to one herself. “Are you having an affair with my husband? You took a married man away from his family,” she apparently wrote. The lawsuit does not state whether Sinema responded, but in November 2024, Heather and Matthew Ammel separated.
The lawsuit also doesn’t make any claims about what happened between Sinema and Ammel after that point, and it’s unclear if they pursued a relationship. In a statement, Thomas M. Van Camp, an attorney representing Heather Ammel, told The Cut he has “no information indicating they are not still together.” (Sinema and her attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.) Van Camp added that Sinema’s alleged pursuit of Ammel was “intentional, calculated, relentless, and, ultimately, successful,” and “she enticed Mr. Ammel with lavish trips and concerts, an exorbitant salary for his services, and psychedelic drugs.”
North Carolina is one of only six states that allows people to sue the person their spouse cheated on them with on the grounds of “alienation of affection.” The law has been gaining more high-profile traction in recent months — in November, another North Carolina woman, Akira Montague, was awarded $1.75 million after accusing influencer Brenay Montague of having an affair with her then husband. All this to say, if you’re thinking of having an affair, maybe get your finances in order first. Might we suggest selling a neon shift dress or two on Facebook marketplace?
