Former Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema told attorneys under oath that she had a sexual relationship with her married bodyguard, Matthew Ammel, that stretched across at least five cities and began while she still held her Senate seat. The sworn testimony, drawn from a July 31 deposition, landed in federal court filings this month as part of a lawsuit brought by Ammel's ex-wife under a North Carolina law that lets a spurned spouse sue the person who allegedly destroyed the marriage.
Heather Ammel filed the suit after discovering what her complaint calls "romantic and lascivious" messages between her husband and Sinema on the encrypted Signal messaging app in early 2024. She is seeking at least $75,000 in damages, claiming the former senator pursued Matthew Ammel despite knowing he was married with three children and ultimately wrecked a 14-year marriage.
Sinema's legal team is not denying the affair. Instead, her attorneys want the case thrown out on jurisdictional grounds, arguing the relationship did not take place on North Carolina soil until after the Ammels had already separated. An evidentiary hearing on that question is scheduled for August 19.
The most striking passage in the filings comes straight from Sinema's own mouth. In her deposition, she described the first sexual encounter with Ammel in plain, unvarnished terms. As Fox News first reported, the encounter took place around Memorial Day 2024 at a rented property in California's wine country.
"We were staying at an Airbnb in Napa, California. We were outside. Matt kissed me. We went inside and had sex."
That testimony, delivered under penalty of perjury, removes any ambiguity about whether the relationship was physical. The New York Post reported that Sinema admitted to having sex with Ammel in at least five locations: Napa, New York City, Washington D.C., Colorado, and Phoenix. Each encounter occurred while Ammel was still legally married.
Sinema also confirmed during the deposition that she first became aware Ammel was married and had three children in December 2023, roughly five months before the physical relationship began. That timeline matters for Heather Ammel's legal theory, because North Carolina's alienation of affection statute requires the plaintiff to show the defendant knowingly interfered with an existing marriage.
Matthew Ammel joined Sinema's private security detail after retiring from the Army in 2022, AP News reported. His duties included accompanying the senator on domestic and international travel to destinations including Napa Valley, Las Vegas, and Saudi Arabia. That proximity, day after day and trip after trip, set the stage for what followed.
Sinema offered a window into how she viewed the dynamic in another portion of her deposition testimony.
"I cared about Matt. Matt and several other of the members of the security team suffered from traumatic brain injury."
That remark raises its own questions. A sitting senator who acknowledged that her bodyguard suffered from a traumatic brain injury still entered a sexual relationship with a subordinate on her payroll. The power imbalance between a U.S. senator and a member of her personal security team is not a minor detail. When other members of Congress have faced scrutiny over relationships with staffers or subordinates, the question of whether genuine consent can exist under such a gap in authority has been central to the controversy. Similar dynamics have surfaced in cases where lawmakers face misconduct allegations tied to their professional conduct.
The legal vehicle for Heather Ammel's case is North Carolina's alienation of affection statute, one of a handful of state laws nationwide that allow a married person to sue a third party for deliberately destroying a marriage. Critics call these laws archaic. Supporters say they protect the institution of marriage and give injured spouses a civil remedy when someone knowingly targets their partner.
Heather Ammel's complaint, originally filed in state court and later moved to federal court, alleges that she and Matthew Ammel had "a good and loving marriage" with "genuine love and affection" before Sinema interfered. Breitbart reported that Sinema's legal team is contesting the lawsuit specifically on jurisdictional grounds, arguing the relationship did not occur on North Carolina soil until after the couple had already separated.
That argument could prove decisive. If Sinema's attorneys can show the affair began and developed entirely outside North Carolina, the court may lack the jurisdictional hook needed to apply the state's alienation of affection law. The evidentiary hearing on August 19 will likely focus on exactly when and where the relationship crossed key thresholds and whether the Ammels' marriage was already functionally over before any contact occurred in the state.
Just The News noted that Sinema acknowledged the romantic and sexual nature of the relationship in her motion to dismiss, a tactical choice that lets her concede the affair while fighting the case on narrower legal terrain. Her attorneys appear to be betting that a jurisdictional win is cleaner and faster than contesting the underlying facts.
Investigators and the court will need to determine several open questions before this case moves forward or dies on procedural grounds. Authorities have not publicly confirmed whether any taxpayer funds or Senate resources were used to facilitate the travel during which the affair took place. The filings do not address whether Sinema's office had any internal policies governing relationships between the senator and members of her security detail.
The court has also not addressed whether the $75,000 damages floor represents the full scope of what Heather Ammel intends to seek or simply the minimum required to establish federal diversity jurisdiction. In alienation of affection cases, juries in North Carolina have occasionally returned awards well into six figures.
Sinema, who left the Senate in January 2025 after declining to seek reelection, has not responded to media requests for comment outside of the court filings. Her silence beyond the legal record has left the deposition testimony as the only public account in her own words.
Sinema built her political brand on independence, leaving the Democratic Party in 2022 to register as an independent and frequently breaking with both parties on key votes. That brand depended on projecting personal credibility and judgment. The deposition testimony now in the public record tests both.
The facts in this case are not criminal. No charges have been filed, and no law enforcement investigation has been disclosed. But the civil lawsuit puts a former senator's private conduct under the kind of sworn, documented scrutiny that few public officials volunteer for. Sinema did not have to answer these questions in a deposition. She chose to, as part of her strategy to kill the case on jurisdiction.
Whether that gamble pays off depends on what happens on August 19. If the court finds jurisdiction, Sinema faces a trial in which her own words will serve as the plaintiff's best evidence. If the court dismisses, Heather Ammel may refile in a state where the affair did take place, assuming that state has a comparable statute on the books.
Either way, the sworn testimony is now public. A former United States senator described, under oath, sleeping with a married man on her payroll across five cities while holding one of the most powerful offices in American government. No procedural ruling can put that back in the box.
