Sinema’s acknowledged relationship with a man she hired as part of her security detail has become the centerpiece of a North Carolina “alienation of affection” lawsuit, according to court filings cited in the case. The former U.S. senator said the relationship began while she was still a lawmaker, even as she argued that the lawsuit—brought by the man’s ex-wife—should be dismissed.
The lawsuit seeks financial damages against Sinema and centers on claims by Heather Ammel that she and her husband, Matthew Ammel, had what she described as a good and loving marriage. Ammel alleges that Sinema interfered after knowing Matthew Ammel was married, and she argues that her conduct helped drive the breakup of the marriage, according to the federal-court litigation.
Sinema, in a signed declaration dated March 7 and attached to a motion filed this week, acknowledged that her relationship with Matthew Ammel became “romantic and intimate” at the end of May 2024 and that it was “physically intimate” over the following months. The court filing says the relationship played out in California, New York, Colorado, Arizona and Washington, D.C., and it also states that the Ammels separated in November 2024.
North Carolina is one of a handful of states that allows a spouse to sue a third party for “alienation of affection,” a theory meant to seek damages from someone alleged to be responsible for the breakup of a marriage. The litigation, originally filed in September in North Carolina state court, was moved to federal court in January.
Sinema’s declaration also disputes specific allegations attributed to Heather Ammel about communications between Sinema and her husband. Sinema rejected claims that she made phone calls and sent internet communications to Matthew Ammel while he was in North Carolina, at times both while he was physically present there and while he was with Ammel and the couple’s children. The filing says Sinema did send a message to Matthew Ammel during the period when he was in North Carolina, but it frames that as occurring after the marriage was already over.
In the motion papers, Sinema’s attorney Steven Epstein argued that the case does not tie Sinema’s conduct to North Carolina in a way that would satisfy the requirements for the lawsuit to proceed. Epstein also wrote that no jury would find the one message had any bearing on the destruction of marital love and affection, according to the account of the court filings.
The lawsuit alleges that Sinema’s head of security hired Matthew Ammel after he retired from the Army in 2022. It further says that in early 2024 Heather Ammel discovered messages between Sinema and her husband on the Signal messaging app that were of “romantic and lascivious natures,” and that later that summer Matthew Ammel stopped wearing his wedding ring. The complaint says Sinema gave Matthew Ammel a job on her Senate staff while he continued to work as her bodyguard.
Sinema declined to seek Senate reelection in 2024 after serving a term that ended early last year, and she left the Democratic Party to become an independent. She now works for a Washington-based legal and lobbying firm, according to the reporting.