Judge allows lawsuit against Kyrsten Sinema under North Carolina 'homewrecker' law to proceed

A federal judge ruled that former U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema can be sued under North Carolina's "homewrecker" law. Heather Ammel filed the alienation-of-affection lawsuit seeking at least $75,000, alleging Sinema destroyed her marriage by having an affair with her husband, bodyguard Matthew Ammel. Judge David A. Bragdon ruled that nine encrypted Signal messages Sinema sent to Matthew Ammel while he was at home in North Carolina are sufficient to establish state jurisdiction.

Federal jurisdiction ruling

• ▪U.S. District Judge David A. Bragdon denied former U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema's motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed against her under North Carolina's alienation-of-affection law.
• ▪Kyrsten Sinema argued that she could not be sued in North Carolina because she lacks a meaningful connection to the state and her sexual encounters with Matthew Ammel occurred elsewhere.
• ▪U.S. District Judge David A. Bragdon ruled that the federal court has personal jurisdiction over Kyrsten Sinema because she sent nine text messages to Matthew Ammel while he was in North Carolina.

Sinema-Ammel affair timeline

• ▪Kyrsten Sinema testified that she had sexual encounters with Matthew Ammel in New York, Washington, Colorado, and Arizona, but never in North Carolina.
• ▪Kyrsten Sinema admitted in a July 2024 deposition that her relationship with Matthew Ammel became sexual around Memorial Day weekend on May 27, 2024, at an Airbnb in Napa, California.
• ▪Matthew Ammel joined Kyrsten Sinema's security team in 2022 after retiring from the U.S. Army and traveled with her both domestically and internationally.

Alienation of affection claims

• ▪Heather Ammel filed her lawsuit against Kyrsten Sinema in North Carolina state court in September 2025, seeking at least $75,000 in damages.
• ▪North Carolina is one of a small number of states that allow spouses to seek financial damages from a third party for alienation of affection.
• ▪U.S. District Judge David A. Bragdon held that because the relationship between Kyrsten Sinema and Matthew Ammel included sex, malice was conclusively presumed under North Carolina law.

Text messages evidence

• ▪Heather Ammel discovered the affair in early 2024 after reading nine romantic and lascivious messages exchanged between Matthew Ammel and Kyrsten Sinema on the Signal messaging app.
• ▪U.S. District Judge David A. Bragdon found that Kyrsten Sinema's text messages showed she was furthering a romantic relationship and invading Matthew Ammel's marriage while he was home.
• ▪Phone records showed that Matthew Ammel was physically present in North Carolina for more than 60% of the year during which the affair developed.

Marriage breakdown allegations

• ▪Heather Ammel alleges that Matthew Ammel stopped wearing his wedding ring in the summer of 2024 after starting an affair with Kyrsten Sinema.
• ▪Kyrsten Sinema appointed Matthew Ammel as a national security fellow in her Senate office in June 2024 while he continued working on her security detail.
• ▪Matthew and Heather Ammel separated on November 1, 2024, and their divorce was finalized in March 2026.

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