Then-U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema in Phoenix, Arizona on May 28, 2024 (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
After leaving the U.S. Senate, Arizona centrist Kyrsten Sinema — a former Democrat turned independent — entered the private sector, where she is now an attorney for the law firm Hogan Lovells. The firm, a merger of Hogan & Hartson (founded in 1904) and the UK-based Lovells, has offices in Washington, D.C., London, New York City, Philadelphia, and other major cities. And Sinema is employed by the D.C. office.
Now, according to Law360, she is facing a legal problem of her own in the form of a civil lawsuit in the case Ammel v. Sinema.
Law360’s Abigail Harrison, in an article published on January 15, reports that a lawsuit filled in North Carolina alleges that the former U.S. senator “destroyed a 14-year marriage by sustaining an affair with a former member of her security detail and U.S. Senate staff.”
“In an alienation of affection complaint, Heather Ammel is seeking damages for Sinema’s lengthy, sexual conversations with her ex-husband Matthew Ammel and coordination of trysts around the globe, all of which led to the couple’s divorce, according to the complaint,” Harrison explains. “North Carolina is one of just a handful of states to recognize alienation of affection, which gives a spouse legal grounds to sue a third party for interfering in a marriage. Sinema has already linked herself publicly to Matthew Ammel, crediting him in multiple news interviews and on podcasts as inspiring her post-senatorial focus on psychedelic drug lobbying.”
The lawsuit, Harrison reports, alleges that Sinema caused the infidelity that led to the Ammels divorcing in 2024.
“Heather Ammel emphasized her role as a dutiful spouse and mother, holding the family together through Matthew Ammel’s multiple military deployments and supporting him through serious health challenges, she says,” according to Harrison. “Matthew Ammel was a member of the U.S. Army and deployed several times to the Middle East. As a result, he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries, according to the lawsuit.”
Harrison continues, “Matthew Ammel officially left the Army in 2022. That same year, he started on Sinema’s security detail. Early on, in fall 2023, Sinema’s head of security resigned, allegedly expressing concerns to Matthew Ammel that Sinema was having sexual relations with members of her security team. That person encouraged Ammel to resign, but he refused, citing the stable pay, the complaint says.”
The lawsuit alleges that Matthew Ammel told his wife that Sinema was “handsy” with him.
“In mid-2024,” according to Harrison, “Matthew Ammel stopped wearing his wedding ring, stating it was so Sinema would not appear in public to be putting her hands on a married man, the complaint says. Soon after, Matthew Ammel traveled to her home in Arizona, where they stayed together alone. That same month, June 2024, Sinema offered him a salaried position and placed him on her U.S. Senate staff as a Defense and National Security Fellow, according to the complaint.”
Harrison adds, “In the ensuing months, Matthew Ammel struggled to admit the affair but stated he wanted a divorce, Heather Ammel alleges. In October 2024, she messaged Sinema and asked if she was having an affair and stated the senator took a married man from his family, according to the complaint. The next month, the couple separated, and Matthew Ammel moved out.”
