A Moore County woman is suing former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, alleging that the Arizona politician engaged in an extramarital relationship that led to the break up of her marriage.
Heather Ammel of Whispering Pines alleges in an alienation of affection lawsuit that Sinema had an affair with her husband, Matthew Ammel, who served as a security guard for Sinema while she was in office.
North Carolina is one of the few states that allows jilted spouses to sue someone for interfering in their marriage. The cases are rare and hinge on the spouse’s ability to prove that a third party is responsible for the demise of the marriage.
Heather Ammel alleges that over a period of months in 2023 and 2024, Sinema deliberately interfered with the marriage by seducing and having sex with Matthew Ammel despite knowing he was married. According to Heather Ammel, Sinema sent him racy pictures of herself, and sent other messages that “exceeded the bounds of a normal working relationship and were of romantic and lascivious natures,” including one that described a sexual position as “boring.”
She also alleged that the then-senator encouraged Matthew Ammel to bring illicit drugs on a work trip so that Sinema could “guide him through a psychedelic experience” and later paid for psychedelic treatment, and that Sinema got “handsy” with her husband at a festival in Arizona.
Heather Ammel alleges that Sinema’s actions destroyed the marriage and caused financial hardship and emotional distress. Heather Ammel and Matthew Ammel separated in November 2024, the complaint says.
A lawyer for Sinema didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. A lawyer for Matthew Ammel, who is not named as a plaintiff in the Sinema case, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Matthew Ammel currently lives in Maricopa County, Arizona, according to court records. Sinema is a resident of Cave Creek, Arizona. Cave Creek is a town in Maricopa County.
The complaint was originally filed in Moore County late last year. It was moved to federal court this week. It is being heard in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina.
According to the complaint, Matthew Ammel worked as a personal security guard for Sinema and later as a member of her Senate staff. During his time in the role, he regularly accompanied Sinema to events, festivals and concerts, including a U2 concert at the Sphere in Las Vegas, a Green Day concert in Washington with one of the Ammels’ children and a Taylor Swift concert in Miami.
Sinema, 49, was elected to the U.S. Senate as a Democrat in 2018 after three terms in the U.S. House. She changed her political affiliation to Independent during her single term in the U.S. Senate, where she was one of the key votes in the closely divided chamber and often worked with Republicans such as Utah’s Mitt Romney and North Carolina’s Thom Tillis. Sinema didn’t run for reelection in 2024.
Former North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore was named in a similar suit in 2023 after a former Apex town councilman alleged that a relationship Moore had with his wife destroyed the marriage. Moore, who now serves in Congress, acknowledged the relationship but denied legal wrongdoing in the case, which has since been settled.
Most alienation of affection cases end up being settled out of court, such as Moore’s case or a separate $3 million settlement in a 2021 case involving a former state senator. But when they go to trial they can sometimes end in eye-popping verdicts, particularly if those involved are wealthy.
In November, a TikTok influencer was ordered to pay $1.75 million after she was found liable for destroying a Durham couple’s marriage. Other plaintiffs in North Carolina have received large sums, including $30 million in a 2011 Wake County case and a $1.3 million case against a former Olympic cyclist in Cabarrus County.
