Senator Krysten Sinema, the retired lawmaker from Arizona, is being accused of having an affair with one of her former bodyguards which resulted in the collapse of his marriage of 14 years. Ms. Sinema is being sued by the man’s ex-wife. 

Ms. Sinema was a thorn in the side of Senate Democrats during her single term representing Arizona. She pushed back on filibuster reform and higher taxes for certain corporations and wealthy individuals, and famously curtseyed when voting against an increase in the federal minimum wage. 

Ahead of a potential re-election campaign in 2024, she drew a Democratic primary challenger from then-Congressman Ruben Gallego, who went on to win the U.S. Senate seat after Ms. Sinema announced she would not run for a second term. Since leaving office early last year, Ms. Sinema has lobbied on behalf of artificial intelligence companies and joined a law firm at Washington, D.C. 

The lawsuit, which was made public in North Carolina county court records on Tuesday, accuses Ms. Sinema of “willfully and intentionally” engaging in attempts to “seduce, entice, and alienate” her former bodyguard from his wife. The ex-bodyguard’s name is Matthew Ammel. 

Ms. Sinema is being sued under what is known as the “alienation of affection” precedent, which stems from common law practices allowing aggrieved individuals to sue others who have sex or engage in affairs with the person’s spouse. The precedent is also known as “heart-balm torts.” Only North Carolina, Mississippi, Hawaii, South Dakota, and Utah allow for such lawsuits to be filed. 

The most famous incident involving such a lawsuit was related to Senator John Edwards, who famously had an affair with a campaign staffer during his 2008 run for the White House. His wife, Elizabeth Edwards, threatened to file an alienation of affection lawsuit not against her husband’s mistress, but against Mr. Edwards’ longtime aide, whom Ms. Edwards believed helped cover up the affair. No lawsuit was ever filed, however. 

According to the lawsuit filed by his former wife, Heather Ammel, Mr. Ammel began working for Ms. Sinema on her security team in 2022. He had retired from the military and was dealing with substance abuse and post-traumatic stress during the course of his marriage with Ms. Ammel. They married in 2010 and separated in 2024. 

Ms. Ammel says that for most of the time during their marriage, she and her husband had an “active, generous, and fulfilling sexual relationship.” She alleges that Ms. Sinema’s “intentional and malicious interference” led to a breakdown of that relationship. 

In 2023 — the year after Mr. Ammel was hired as one of Ms. Sinema’s bodyguards — the head of the then-senator’s security detail left her post. That person, whose name is not disclosed in the complaint, allegedly told Mr. Ammel that she believed Ms. Sinema was engaging in sexual relationships with members of her security team. 

That same year, Mr. Ammel brought his wife to a U2 concert where he was charged with guarding Ms. Sinema. They attended the concert with the head of the World Food Programme, Cindy McCain, the widow of Senator John McCain. After the concert, Mr. Ammel, Ms. Ammel, Ms. Sinema, and Ms. McCain drank champagne in a hotel suite. 

“Did you ever think you would be drinking Dom Perignon in Cindy McCain’s suite?” Ms. Sinema allegedly asked Mr. Ammel. 

Just one month later, in January 2024, Ms. Ammel says she discovered that Ms. Sinema had been sending “romantic and lascivious” messages to her husband via the encrypted messaging app Signal. Ms. Sinema allegedly sent Mr. Ammel a photo of herself wearing nothing but a towel. In another message, Ms. Sinema allegedly offered Mr. Ammel MDMA, a synthetic psychedelic drug, in order to help him deal with his post-traumatic stress. 

Later that year, Mr. Ammel was traveling in Pennsylvania on a work trip without Ms. Sinema. He texted the then-senator, saying that he wanted to start a “f–k the troops” chant at a baseball game that he was attending. Ms. Sinema allegedly responded to say she would “f–k the hot ones.” Another message included Mr. Ammel talking about having sex in the missionary position with the lights on, to which Ms. Sinema responded, “Boring!”

In the spring of 2024, Mr. Ammel stopped wearing his wedding ring because of Ms. Sinema’s physical advances. He allegedly told Ms. Ammel that he did not want it to look like Ms. Sinema was “putting her hands on a married man,” according to the lawsuit. Shortly after that, Mr. Ammel joined Ms. Sinema’s Senate staff as a Defense and National Security fellow while also maintaining his duties as a bodyguard. 

Later that year, Ms. Ammel found a message on her husband’s phone from Ms. Sinema. The senator wrote about missing her bodyguard and putting her hand over her heart while thinking about him. Ms. Ammel responded to Ms. Sinema, asking, “[A]re you having an affair with my husband? You took a married man away from his family.”

Ms. Ammel claims that her ex-husband and Ms. Sinema are in a romantic relationship to this day. She is suing the former senator for $75,000.