An ex-senator has been accused of having an affair with her bodyguard in a lawsuit filed by the distraught wife of the former staffer.
Kyrsten Sinema, 49, who represented Arizona in the US Senate from 2019 to 2025, first as a Democrat and then as an independent, is accused of ‘intentional and malicious interference’ in the 14-year marriage of Matthew and Heather Ammel.
Heather, a mother of three, alleges that Sinema embarked on an affair with her special forces veteran husband shortly after he was hired to her security team in 2022.
Sinema and her bodyguard frequently traveled together on work trips across the country and internationally, where the suit alleges the senator would invite Ammel to her hotel room.
The bisexual senator asked him to bring the party drug MDMA, also known as ecstasy, with him ahead of one of these work trips in 2023, so that ‘she could guide him through a psychedelic experience,’ the suit alleges.
The duo also allegedly messaged about having sex missionary style with the lights on, something Sinema stated was ‘Boring!’
Heather is suing Sinema for damages of $25,000 under a unique North Carolina law that allows for a plaintiff to sue for alienation of affection via ‘wrongful and malicious conduct’, for example, an affair.
Their travels included concerts, such as U2 at the Sphere in Las Vegas, Green Day in Washington, DC, and Taylor Swift in Miami. Ammel also accompanied the senator, who was known to wear bright outfits on Capitol Hill, on a foreign trip to Saudi Arabia.
Krysten Sinema alongside her former bodyguard Matthew Ammel, with whom she is accused of having an affair, at an event in October
The 49-year-old represented Arizona in the Senate from 2019 to 2025, first as a Democrat and then as an independent. She was known to wear bold outfits on Capitol Hill
Sinema asked Ammel to remove his wedding ring ‘so it wouldn’t look like she was putting her hands on a married man when they were out at concerts,’ the lawsuit claims.
During former president Joe Biden’s 2024 State of the Union address, Sinema told Ammel that she was skipping it as she didn’t need to listen to ‘some old man.’
When Ammel messaged Sinema about wanting to start a ‘f*** the troops’ chant at a Pennsylvania baseball game, Sinema responded she would ‘f*** the hot ones.’
The suit also notes that Sinema purchased a Theragun electric massager for Ammel and texted for him to bring it over to her apartment so she could ‘work on his back.’
Ammel in a family photo
Sinema even sent pictures of herself wrapped in a towel to Ammel.
In October 2024, soon after Ammel returned home to North Carolina, the senator texted: ‘I miss you. Putting my hand on your heart. I’ll see you soon.’
Heather responded to the message, stating: ‘Are you having an affair with my husband? You took a married man away from his family.’
The affair allegedly culminated in the breakdown of the marriage in late 2024, when Heather and her husband separated.
The complaint says Heather was left emotionally devastated, financially strained and forced to pursue divorce proceedings as a result of Sinema’s actions.
The suit notes that Ammel worked for Sinema between 2022 and 2025.
Ammel suffers from PTSD as well as a traumatic brain injury and took psychedelic drugs to help combat the effects.
Sinema has been active in pushing for psychedelics, including MDMA as well as Ibogaine, to be accepted as valid therapies for PTSD, both in her time as a senator and lobbyist after her government service.
Sinema at Joe Biden’s State of the Union address in February 2023. The lawsuit claims she skipped the following year, telling Ammel that she didn’t need to listen to ‘some old man’
The former senator wears a red dress next to Mitt Romney at a bipartisan meeting in June 2021
Sinema in another wacky outfit while representing Arizona at the US Capitol in May 2023
In an interview with the Phoenix New Times last year, Sinema named Ammel as an inspiration for her work, stating that after he returned from a trip to Mexico, where he partook in ibogaine treatment, which is illegal in the US, she ‘saw the difference it was making in his life, his thinking and his behavior.’
Sinema also advocated for the FDA, under the Biden administration in 2024, to consider the scientific evidence that she believed showed that MDMA could help treat veterans’ behavioral and mental issues, including PTSD.
Legistorm, a database of congressional salaries, lists that Ammel was a Defense and National Security Fellow in Sinema’s Senate office, and was paid more than $90,000 for six months of work between June 2024 and January 2025.
Prior to his official Congressional role, Ammel was paid from Sinema’s campaign accounts and her Getting Stuff Done leadership PAC, per Federal Election Commission Data.
The amount that Ammel was getting paid appears to have sharply increased after Sinema left office.
The Daily Mail has contacted Sinema for comment.
