A federal judge in North Carolina has ruled that former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema can be sued under the state’s alienation-of-affection statute, or homewrecker law, in a case brought by her former bodyguard’s ex-wife.
U.S. District Judge David A. Bragdon denied Sinema’s motion to dismiss on Friday, which was based on claims that she has no ties to the state.
The judge pointed to nine text messages Sinema sent to Matthew Ammel, who she knew was married but carried on an affair with, while he was in North Carolina and found it implausible that she did not know where he was when she sent them.
In the same order, Bragdon wrote that Sinema’s testimony on several key points “has not been credible.”
Sinema had argued the affair never occurred in North Carolina and that she therefore could not be brought to court there. The judge disagreed.
Heather Ammel, his now-ex-wife, filed the lawsuit in Moore County Superior Court in January.
North Carolina is one of the last states that still lets a spouse sue a third party for “alienation of affection,” a civil claim that the defendant destroyed the love and affection in a marriage and can be forced to pay damages.
Heather Ammel, who lived with Matthew Ammel and their three children in Whispering Pines for a decade, alleges they had “a good and loving marriage” with “genuine love and affection” until Sinema entered the picture.
She says Sinema pursued her husband while he worked on her security detail.
The marriage ultimately ended.
Sinema has admitted to having a sexual relationship with Matthew Ammel.
In a July deposition she said she knew he was married, that romantic texts had been exchanged for months, and that the relationship became sexual on May 27, 2024, at an Airbnb in Napa, California.
“We were staying at an Airbnb in Napa, California,” Sinema admitted in her deposition, according to a report from Fox News. “We were outside. Matt kissed me. We went inside and had sex.”
She described later encounters in New York around CNN host Jessica Dean’s wedding, and in Washington, Colorado, and Arizona, but said they never had sex in North Carolina.
In an August testimony she said she is “not like that” and that sex happened “when the opportunity presented itself, and when Mr. Ammel approached me.”
Sinema represented Arizona in the House and then the Senate, left the Democratic Party to become an independent, and declined to run again in 2024.
The former politician now works as a lobbyist with Hogan Lovells Cadwalader and has been described in court papers as also teaching at Arizona State University.
Matthew Ammel, a retired military veteran, met her in 2022 after joining her security team. The lawsuit alleges she later arranged work for him as a national security fellow while the relationship developed.
Sinema’s attorney, Steven Epstein, did not immediately comment after Friday’s ruling.
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