Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has formally admitted to having had an affair with her bodyguard while she was in office.
She admitted to the affair with former bodyguard Matthew Ammel in a court filing submitted Thursday in response to a “homewrecker” lawsuit filed against her last September by Ammel’s ex-wife, according to FOIAzona, a blog by Arizona reporter Brian Anderson
“At the end of May 2024, my relationship with Mr. Ammel became romantic and intimate,” she wrote in the filing. “On May 27, 2024, while Mr. Ammel was on a security detail for me Sonoma, CA, we were physically intimate for the first time.”
“Thereafter, we were physically intimate in mid-June in New York City, NY, in mid-July in Washington, DC, in late-August in Aspen, CO, in late-September in Washington, DC, and in early-October in Phoenix, AZ,” Sinema added.
The suit against her by Ammel’s ex-wife, Heather, was filed in North Carolina precisely because it has a “homewrecker” law on the books.
M.R. Parker Law Managing Partner @mrparkerlaw breaks down the “LOSS OF AFFECTION” lawsuit involving former Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and the EX-WIFE of one of Sinema’s bodyguards.
“Kyrsten Sinema had a relationship with her security guard, Matthew Ammel, and his wife, Heather,… pic.twitter.com/dyMZcFstWF
— One America News (@OANN) January 17, 2026
In the suit, Heather accused Sinema of “willfully and intentionally” seducing her husband despite knowing full well that he was married and even had three children.
According to Heather, her husband’s working relationship with Sinema began in April of 2022, right after he retired from the Army.
Not until the fall of 2023 did Sinema’s alleged seduction efforts begin. It was around this time that Ammel accompanied the then-senator on a trip to Napa Valley that he later told his wife “would have appeared as if they were on a romantic getaway” had they been seen.
Heather added in the suit that she later discovered Signal messages between her husband and Sinema that she alleged: “exceeded the bounds of a normal working relationship and were of romantic and lascivious natures.”
“Among the messages were allegedly a photo of Sinema wrapped in a towel and an exchange in which they discussed missionary sex, which Sinema apparently called ‘Boring!'” according to The Cut.
“In another message, Sinema allegedly suggested Matthew Ammel ‘bring MDMA drugs on a work trip so that she could guide him through a psychedelic experience,'” The Cut’s reporting continues.
As time progressed, Sinema also allegedly started buying Ammel gifts, including a Theragun massager that she once “messaged him to bring it over to her apartment so that she could ‘work on his back.'”
The trip to Napa Valley was one of many additional trips.
“Per the suit, [Ammel] attended numerous concerts with [Sinema], including U2, Green Day, and Taylor Swift (the Swift concert was apparently also attended by his wife and children),” The Cut notes.
During one trip in March of 2024 to a music festival in Phoenix, Sinema allegedly got “handsy” with Ammel. He later told his wife about it but alleged that he “didn’t know how to get out of the situation without offending” his boss, according to the suit.
During another trip shortly thereafter to San Francisco, Sinema allegedly invited Ammel “into her hotel room, and they stayed together for hours.”
By the summer of that year, Ammel stopped wearing his wedding ring on the grounds that “it was best for ‘public optics'” given all the time he was spending with Sinema at concerts and other public events.
“That June, he allegedly accompanied her to a wedding in New York City as both her ‘security and guest,’ after which they allegedly flew to Arizona and ‘stayed together alone’ at Sinema’s home in Scottsdale,” The Cut further notes.
Then came the big moment in October of 2024 when Heather texted Sinema the following: “Are you having an affair with my husband? You took a married man away from his family.”
The following month, Ammel formally separated from his wife.
It’s not clear what happened between Ammel and Sinema afterward, though Heather’s attorney told The Cut that she has “no information indicating they are not still together.”
In her Thursday filing, Sinema argued the suit should be dismissed because the affair “occurred exclusively outside of North Carolina.”
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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