Kyrsten Sinema—a Democratic-turned-independent former U.S. Senator known for bucking party orthodoxy—left Congress last year but is now back in headlines as she faces a lawsuit for allegedly breaking up the 14-year marriage of one of her staffers while in office.
In the complaint, which was first filed in September in a North Carolina state court, plaintiff Heather Ammel accused Sinema of seducing her ex-husband Matthew Ammel, who began working for Sinema in April 2022 as part of her security detail. Sinema’s attorney asked to move the suit to federal court this week. The former Senator and her attorney did not immediately respond to TIME’s request for comment.
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The complaint was rife with shocking accusations, including how Sinema and Ammel exchanged messages of “romantic and lascivious natures” on the encrypted messaging app Signal, how the former Senator sent him sexually suggestive photos, and how she suggested that he bring a hallucinogenic drug, which Sinema allegedly offered to “guide him through,” during a work trip.
Here’s what to know.
Who is Kyrsten Sinema?
A former social worker and lawyer, Sinema became a Senator in 2019 after representing Arizona’s 9th congressional district in the U.S. House for six years. She replaced retiring Sen. Jeff Flake, a Republican, and made history by becoming the first openly bisexual member of the Senate and the first woman elected to represent Arizona in the Senate.
Before joining the Democratic Party, Sinema was a Green Party activist who backed Ralph Nader’s 2000 presidential bid. But for most of her years in national politics as a Democrat, she earned a reputation for working as a centrist and deviating from the Democratic party line. She opposed changes to the Senate filibuster—which subsequently derailed voting rights legislation, blocked the raising of minimum wage to $15 to progressive lawmakers’ dismay, and voted along with the GOP to try and block President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan.
Sinema’s bipartisanship earned praise from some Republicans: former Republican Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R, Ky.) branded her a “genuine moderate and a dealmaker” in 2022, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R, Alaska) lauded Sinema’s “fearless approach to legislating” as a key person in the massive, bipartisan infrastructure bill that Biden signed in 2021. “Kyrsten understands the importance of consensus,” Murkowski wrote for Sinema’s 2022 TIME100 profile. But at the same time, her moves drew anger from Democrats.
At the end of 2022, Sinema defected from the Democratic Party and registered as an independent, telling Politico that she “never really fit into a box of any political party.” In 2024, she announced she would retire from the Senate. “I believe in my approach but it’s not what America wants right now,” she said in a video.
After she left office, Sinema became a senior advisor at the law and lobbying firm Hogan Lovells. She’s also since advocated for research into psychedelic medicine, telling Politico in an interview last year that she’s spoken with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has expressed similar sentiments about the medicinal use of psychedelic drugs.
What accusations is Sinema facing?
The 14-page complaint alleged that on or before 2023, Sinema, “with actual knowledge of the Marriage” between Heather and Matthew Ammel, “began to willfully and intentionally seduce, entice, and alienate the affections” of the plaintiff’s ex-husband, with whom the plaintiff was married since 2010 and has three children.
Heather Ammel sued for “alienation of affection”—nicknamed the “homewrecker law”—and is seeking $75,000 in damages, per her lawyers. She argued in the complaint that Sinema “engaged in numerous unlawful acts” with her ex-husband, including, but not limited to, having conversations with him, meeting him under emotionally and physically romantic and sexual circumstances, having sexual encounters with him, and encouraging him to leave his wife.
The lawsuit alleges that in the fall of 2023, when Sinema’s then-head of security resigned, the head disclosed to Matthew Ammel concerns that Sinema “was having sexual relations with other security members.” The security head urged Matthew Ammel to leave, but Ammel refused, citing the job’s financial security.
While in the job, Matthew Ammel had at one point informed his ex-wife, according to her complaint, that should he and Sinema be seen together on a work trip to Napa Valley, Calif., “it would have appeared as if they were on a romantic getaway.”
Starting January 2024, Heather Ammel discovered that Sinema frequently messaged her ex-husband on Signal, which included a picture of the former Senator “wrapped in a towel” and a suggestion that he bring MDMA, the drug commonly known as molly or ecstasy, to a work trip so that Sinema “could guide him through a psychedelic experience.” In March 2024, Matthew Ammel informed his then-wife that while he was serving as Sinema’s security at an event, the former Senator was getting “handsy” and that she “held his hand and touched him.” According to the complaint, Matthew Ammel expressed that “he didn’t know how to get out of the situation without offending” Sinema.
Sinema had also allegedly invited Matthew Ammel alone to her hotel room and to her apartment on separate occasions, and had stayed with him and her friends in a private Airbnb. She also allegedly purchased gifts for him.
In June 2024, Sinema allegedly offered Matthew Ammel a salaried position on her staff—he eventually became her personal security guard and a defense and national security fellow. Heather Ammel later confronted her then-husband about his relationship with Sinema. He “struggled to admit” to the affair, the complaint says, but expressed that he wanted a divorce. After a November work trip, Heather and Matthew Ammel separated.
Her complaint alleges that her ex-husband and Sinema remain romantically involved. Sinema and Matthew Ammel both appeared at a forum in October, a LinkedIn post shows.
What ground was used in the lawsuit against Sinema?
“Alienation of affections” is a kind of what’s known as “heartbalm tort,” which may allow a plaintiff to seek civil action and monetary compensation for the disruption of romantic relationships.
A 1957 North Carolina Supreme Court ruling, Bishop v. Glazener, said “the essential elements of an action for alienation of affections are the marriage, the loss of affection or consortium, the wrongful and malicious conduct of the defendant, and a causal connection between such loss and such conduct.”
Alienation of affections was largely recognized in the 1800s as a tort for when a female spouse was whisked away from her husband by a third party. But many states have since abolished alienation of affections statutes, amid criticism that it treats spouses as property.
North Carolina is one of six states where “alienation of affections” legal claims are still allowed; the others are Hawaii, Mississippi, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Utah—though the Utah state legislature is considering abolishing the right to such claims this year.