Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s old Capitol Hill colleagues said they were worried about her after the retired lawmaker’s ex-boyfriend was accused of trashing her Cave Creek home so badly that he was charged with a felony.
Sinema’s former bodyguard-turned-paramour Matthew Ammel allegedly threw 22 paintings from her art collection into her swimming pool, smashed pricey booze bottles and shattered a wall-mounted mirror while she was out of town.
“I feel badly for what's going on,” said former Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, who Sinema replaced in 2019. The pair served together in Congress, and Sinema, then a Democratic member of the House of Representatives, was angling to take Flake on in Arizona's 2018 Senate race before he bowed out of his reelection
bid.
It was the latest development in Sinema’s troubled relationship with Ammel, which began during the final year of her Senate term with a coast-to-coast sexual affair while he was on her payroll.
Sinema served a single term in the U.S. Senate. She was elected as a Democrat and later left the party to become an independent.
Heather Ammel, Ammel’s ex-wife, is suing Sinema under North Carolina’s rare “homewrecker” law. The dramatic lawsuit has brought personal details about Sinema and Ammel’s sex lives and alleged drug use into the public eye.
In the same month that Sinema and Heather Ammel met face-to-face in a Winston-Salem courtroom to testify about the marriage-ending affair, Ammel was accused of causing more than $200,000 in damage to Sinema’s property.
Sinema, 50, told police that the chaos began when Ammel, 39, demanded she post a video to her X social media account. She refused. Ammel said he would damage a painting every 10 minutes until she complied.
He followed through on the threat, police said, noting the paintings floating in her swimming pool when they arrived to investigate on Sept. 3.
“I'm sad she's going through this,” said former Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Arizona, who served in the House with Sinema for four years.
Sinema did not respond to a request for comment.
After the incident, police said that Ammel was mental health petitioned and landed in a Valleywise behavioral health facility. Ammel was charged with aggravated criminal damage and released with an ankle monitor and a warning to stay away from Sinema, according to court records.
In an email, Ammel said that he had comments on the situation but was weighing how to proceed.
"I’ve never done this before," Ammel said. "Let me ask my lawyer."
Arizona State University, where Ammel and Sinema both work, planned to wind down Ammel's fellowship at the end of October, spokesperson Jerry Gonzalez said Sept. 24.
Ammel is a veteran who struggles with brain injuries from his time as a Green Beret. Last year, he was charged with felony assault in North Carolina after he was accused of strangling mental hospital staff. He had been involuntarily committed after threatening his rental property manager, court records say.
During their relationship, Sinema and Ammel encouraged lawmakers to fund trials of the psychedelic drug ibogaine, which Ammel said helped ease his mental health struggles.
At one point, Sinema also encouraged Ammel to bring MDMA on a work trip so she could guide him through a psychedelic experience, according to Signal messages referenced in Heather Ammel’s "homewrecker" lawsuit.
“If that guy doesn't get the proper help that he needs, I would be frightened if I were her,” Salmon said.
The day after news broke about the property damage at Sinema’s house, construction workers were busy building a new fence along her Cave Creek property on Sept. 24.
The former lawmaker’s gray, modern home built in 2022 was in contrast to the warm, Southwestern-style terracotta homes in the area.
She purchased the 4,085-square-foot home in July 2025 and took on a mortgage loan of $1.6 million, according to Maricopa County property records.
Workers mixed concrete and stacked gray bricks along Sinema's property on a quiet street. She had the boundaries formally surveyed in November, property records show.
Stephanie Murray covers national politics and the Trump administration for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. She co-hosts “The Gaggle,” The Republic’s weekly politics podcast. Reach her at stephanie.murray@usatodayco.com, on X and TikTok @stephanie_murr and on Instagram @stephaniemurray.news.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Former Sinema colleagues sad, worried after latest 'homewrecker' drama
