Former Senator Kyrsten Sinema must defend herself in North Carolina against civil claims that she knowingly helped break up a marriage, after a federal judge found enough evidence to allow the lawsuit to proceed, an outcome Sinema’s legal team had fought to avoid.
U.S. District Judge David A. Bragdon denied Sinema’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit brought by Heather Ammel, who alleges Sinema pursued a romantic relationship with her then-husband, Matthew Ammel, while he was both on Sinema’s security team and still married. Judge Bragdon ruled that Sinema’s contacts with North Carolina, specifically, nine messages sent to Matthew Ammel while he was present in the state, were sufficient to establish jurisdiction, allowing the case to move forward under North Carolina’s so-called “homewrecker” law. Fox News Digital reported.
The ruling highlights North Carolina’s unusual legal landscape, where a spouse can sue a third party for “alienation of affection” if they believe their marriage was sabotaged by an outsider. While most states have abolished such claims, North Carolina law still allows them. Heather Ammel’s complaint describes her marriage as a “good and loving marriage” with “genuine love and affection” before Sinema allegedly interfered. The New York Post noted that the texting trail played a central role in Judge Bragdon’s decision, as those communications linked Sinema’s actions directly to the state and the Ammel home.
Sinema, a former U.S. senator from Arizona, had argued through her attorneys that she could not be sued in North Carolina because she lacked a “meaningful connection” to the state. Her legal team, led by Steven Epstein, filed a motion to dismiss on the grounds that any alleged romantic conduct or communications took place outside North Carolina. “Because Defendant’s conduct related to her romantic relationship with Mr. Ammel does not connect her to North Carolina in a meaningful way, jurisdiction over her in this action does not comport with due process,” Sinema’s legal filing stated, as the Washington Examiner reported.
But Judge Bragdon found that the nine text messages and other communications Sinema sent to Matthew Ammel while he was physically present at his family home in North Carolina were enough to satisfy the state’s requirements for jurisdiction. The judge wrote that Sinema was “invading the marriage not just while he was away on trips with her” but also while Ammel was home with his family. Newsmax described the ruling as a rebuke to Sinema’s efforts to evade the state’s reach.
Sinema’s attorneys did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment after the decision. The ruling means the lawsuit, filed by the scorned spouse, will now proceed toward trial, barring a settlement or further successful legal maneuvering.
Heather Ammel’s complaint alleges that Sinema began pursuing her husband after he joined Sinema’s security team in 2022, following his retirement from the U.S. Army. The complaint says Matthew Ammel traveled with Sinema domestically and internationally, and that he stopped wearing his wedding ring and accepted a position as a national security fellow in Sinema’s Senate office during the summer of 2024. Heather Ammel discovered the alleged affair in early 2024 after reading nine messages Sinema sent her husband while he was at home in North Carolina.
Sinema herself admitted, in a deposition given in Raleigh, North Carolina, that she and Matthew Ammel’s relationship turned sexual around Memorial Day 2024. “We were staying at an Airbnb in [Napa, California.] We were outside. Matt kissed me. We went inside and had sex,” Sinema testified. She further acknowledged having sexual encounters with Ammel in New York, Washington, Colorado, and Arizona, but not North Carolina. Just The News reported that Sinema’s own testimony undercut her jurisdictional argument, even as she maintained the relationship did not extend physically into North Carolina itself.
The timeline outlined in public filings and Sinema’s deposition shows that the Ammels’ marriage unraveled quickly after the affair came to light. The couple separated on November 1, 2024, and their divorce was finalized in March 2026. Heather Ammel is reportedly seeking at least $75,000 in damages.
North Carolina is one of the few states where a spouse can sue a third party for damages under an alienation-of-affection claim. Judge Bragdon’s ruling found that Sinema’s messages and pursuit of a romantic relationship with a married man in North Carolina was enough for the case to proceed. As AP News summarized, “She can be sued” under North Carolina’s homewrecker law, and the court found that the facts alleged, if proven, may meet the state’s standards.
This kind of legal exposure is not unique to Sinema. High-profile personal scandals and the legal risks that come with them have affected other public officials, as seen in the recent Nashville officer resignation over an exposed on-duty affair. But Sinema’s case is likely to draw extra scrutiny because of her status as a former U.S. senator, her public prominence, and the unusual persistence of North Carolina’s law.
Judge Bragdon’s written opinion emphasized that the digital trail Sinema left, nine messages to Ammel while he was at home, was not incidental. In the judge’s view, this evidence showed Sinema was furthering a romantic relationship and “invading” the marriage even while Ammel was physically present with his family. The ruling does not resolve the ultimate question of liability but sets the stage for a full airing of the facts in a North Carolina court.
Sinema’s legal team is expected to defend against the allegations vigorously, insisting that the relationship was largely conducted outside the state. But the court’s decision makes clear that, in North Carolina, digital contact and the emotional impact of an affair can be enough to open the courthouse doors to a deeply personal dispute.
Whatever the outcome, Sinema’s efforts to avoid public and legal scrutiny have now failed at this stage. For public officials, and those who serve under them, this case is a reminder that actions have consequences that go beyond the headlines and into the courtroom.
In a country where laws and standards still matter, even the powerful must answer for the messes they make in private, and in public.
