The woman who filed a "homewrecker" lawsuit against former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema wants to call her as a witness in court this week.
Sinema, I-Arizona, is accused of breaking up the 14-year marriage of her former bodyguard, Matthew Ammel.
His ex-wife, Heather Ammel, is suing Sinema using North Carolina’s “homewrecker” law. The rare law allows spouses to sue the person who broke up their marriage.
Sinema has not denied having a sexual affair with her former employee. Instead, she has argued that the lawsuit should not stand because the affair did not take place in North Carolina.
As part of the legal battle, Sinema has provided details about a coast-to-coast sexual affair with a person on her payroll that began at the end of her Senate term. The suit
has also publicized private text messages between Sinema and Matthew Ammel about sex, drugs and politics.
What's next in the case?
An evidentiary hearing in the case is set for Aug. 19. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina Western Division.
Heather Ammel plans to call herself, her ex-husband and Sinema as witnesses, according to a court filing.
Sinema also intends to call live witnesses at the hearing, according to a notice from her lawyer.
What happened between Sinema and her bodyguard?
Sinema, who is not married, is a former Democrat-turned-independent U.S. senator from Arizona. Her affair with Matthew Ammel began toward the end of her term in the Senate, according to a deposition in the case.
Their sexual relationship started in Napa, California, in 2024 and continued in Washington, D.C., New York City, Phoenix and Aspen, Colorado, Sinema said.
Sinema and Matthew Ammel were staying at an Airbnb in Napa, California, around Memorial Day when they first kissed, according to the former lawmaker.
“We were staying at an Airbnb in Napa, California. We were outside. Matt kissed me. We went inside and had sex,” Sinema said, according to a deposition transcript.
The affair continued a month later, when Sinema attended the wedding of CNN anchor Jessica Dean in New York City. Sinema and Matthew Ammel had separate hotel rooms at the Edition Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. They were intimate in Sinema’s room, she said in the deposition.
Sinema and Matthew Ammel continued having sex at her Washington, D.C., apartment in July 2024 and in Aspen, Colorado, during a late August 2024 fundraising trip.
Sinema said she did not recall whether they had another encounter in Washington in late September, though Matthew Ammel confirmed they did in his deposition. The affair continued into October at her house in Phoenix.
Does a North Carolina law apply to Sinema?
Sinema’s lawyers have challenged Heather Ammel’s lawsuit by saying the affair did not take place in North Carolina before Heather and Matthew Ammel separated.
In a deposition, Heather Ammel agreed that she cannot dispute that the romantic and sexual relationship between Sinema and Matthew Ammel happened exclusively outside of North Carolina before Nov. 1, 2024, which is when the couple separated.
Did texts happen in North Carolina?
Sinema’s lawyers have also argued that Heather Ammel cannot prove that Sinema knowingly sent text messages to Matthew Ammel while he was in North Carolina.
The text messages included conversations about MDMA drugs, former President Joe Biden, a Depeche Mode concert in Italy and Sinema referring to “having sex missionary style with the lights on” as “Boring!”
“Absent proof that Defendant had actual knowledge of Mr. Ammel’s location when she transmitted any particular Signal message, thereby deliberately and intentionally sending such message into the State of North Carolina, personal jurisdiction over Defendant does not exist,” Sinema’s lawyers wrote in an Aug. 12 filing.
During her deposition, a lawyer pressed Sinema on other text messages that she sent to Matthew Ammel, including a picture of Sinema in a towel. She said that the photo was “about sports” because she is an endurance athlete and the photo was of her cupping marks.
In another message, Sinema said, “Putting my hand on your heart. I'll see you soon. I miss you.”
“Is that the type of message that you sent to other security guards or other members of your security detail?” the lawyer asked.
Sinema said she could not recall whether she sent a similar message to her other security detail.
“You understand, Ms. Sinema, don't you, that a wife reading this might get concerned about who is sending her husband that kind of message referring to putting his — her hand on his heart? Can you see that?” the lawyer asked.
Sinema answered “yes.”
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: What's next in Kyrsten Sinema 'homewrecker' lawsuit? Hearing this week
