Former Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is now reportedly facing a civil lawsuit in North Carolina that accuses her of interfering in the marriage of a former member of her security detail, invoking the state’s rarely used but still active “Homewrecker Law.”
The lawsuit was filed under North Carolina’s alienation of affection statute, one of only a small number of states that still allow such claims. The complaint alleges that Sinema engaged in “intentional and malicious interference” in what it describes as a “good and loving marriage” between Heather and Matthew Ammel. According to the filing, the couple separated in November 2024. The lawsuit, filed in September 2025, has recently resurfaced.
Matthew Ammel joined Sinema’s security team in 2022. The lawsuit claims that Sinema’s head of security resigned in the fall of 2023 due to concerns that Sinema was “having sexual relations with other security members.” While Ammel was allegedly encouraged to leave as well, the complaint states that he chose to remain because of the financial stability the job provided.
According to the lawsuit, Sinema later hired Ammel as a Defense and National Security Fellow within her official Senate office while he continued working as her personal security guard. The complaint alleges that the relationship between Sinema and Ammel went far beyond professional boundaries, claiming the two engaged in numerous lengthy conversations across multiple platforms that were “emotionally romantic or sexual in nature.”
The filing further alleges that Sinema and Ammel met regularly outside of work settings, with encounters described as emotionally or physically romantic or sexual. Sinema is accused of encouraging Ammel to leave his wife. By the spring or early summer of 2024, Ammel reportedly stopped wearing his wedding ring. The lawsuit claims this decision was tied to concerns over “public optics” as Sinema allegedly put her hands on a married man while attending concerts and other public events.
Additional allegations detail messages in which Sinema was allegedly “wrapped in a towel” and suggested Ammel bring MDMA on a work trip so she could guide him through a psychedelic experience, framing it as help for his mental health challenges. The complaint also alleges that Ammel accompanied Sinema on numerous trips and that by 2024, the volume of encrypted Signal messages between them had increased to a level that exceeded a normal working relationship.
The lawsuit includes examples of message exchanges, including one in which Sinema said she would skip the State of the Union address because she did not need to listen to President Biden discuss legislation she claimed to have written. Another exchange cited in the complaint alleges Ammel joked about starting a vulgar chant at a baseball game, with Sinema responding in kind.
The filing also claims the pair attended multiple concerts together, including shows by U2 and the Extra Innings Festival. According to the plaintiff, Ammel said Sinema was “handsy” with him during at least one of these events.
The lawsuit seeks damages in excess of $25,000. It also notes that Ammel is an Army veteran who suffers from PTSD. In March, Phoenix New Times reported on Sinema’s post-Senate advocacy for expanded psychedelic research, during which Sinema referenced Ammel’s experience. “I saw the difference it was making in his life, his thinking, and his behavior,” Sinema said in that interview.
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