Kyrsten Sinema spent her lone term as a United States Senator as the poster child for main character syndrome. From the ostentatious outfits to the carefully contrived contrarian votes, Sinema made sure she drew more attention than a first-term senator customarily earns. Down the stretch, it appeared as though Sinema’s primary motivation was landing a cushy pharmaceutical lobbying job, so it wasn’t a surprise when she eschewed a continued political career to join Hogan Lovells in one of those “not a lobbyist but doing all the work a company expects from a lobbyist” roles popular among former officials. A nice paycheck to no longer be the star of the show.
Alas, it seems that her post-Senate life remains just as bizarre as her tenure in office. As noted by Law360, Sinema is being sued in North Carolina under one of the most gloriously archaic torts: alienation of affection. Quite the glow-down from walking the halls of power to being sued under a legal theory that makes the Rule Against Perpetuities seem like a TikTok trend.
Alienation of affection allows a spouse to sue a third party for interfering with their marriage. It’s a relic from the era when wives were considered property and “stealing” one carried legal consequences. Only a handful of states still recognize it (though it might enjoy a comeback once this administration imposes some sort of a trad wife mandate), and North Carolina is one of those states. In fact, North Carolina has a fairly active alienation of affection docket, with roughly 200 cases per year.
The plaintiff is Heather Ammel, whose husband Matthew Ammel served on Sinema’s security detail and later joined her Senate staff as a “Defense and National Security Fellow.” According to the complaint, he was also something more.
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According to the verified complaint (via CourtListener), everything allegedly started when Sinema’s former head of security warned Mr. Ammel, then a member of the detail, that she worried that the senator was “having sexual relations with other security members.” Mr. Ammel chose to stay.
Then the messaging ramped up.
Plaintiff discovered messages which included a picture of Defendant wrapped in a towel; Defendant offered to help Mr. Ammel work through his mental health challenges and Mr. Ammel agreed; Mr. Ammel stated to Defendant he was intimidated by her and Defendant asked why because she only wants to be intimidating to her opponents, not to people she likes; Defendant suggested for Mr. Ammel to bring MDMA drugs on a work trip so that she could guide him through a psychedelic experience.
The psychedelic stuff would seem an impossible stretch except Sinema has already discussed knowing about Mr. Ammel taking a psychedelic substance for treatment. In March 2025, Sinema talked to the Phoenix New Times about her advocacy for psychedelic drug research and explicitly told the story of Mr. Ammel going to Mexico to take ibogaine to deal with migraines.
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Somehow, this isn’t even the first notable story involving a U.S. Senator and ibogaine. Except this one is real.
Ibogaine in Mexico is, of course, not the same as MDMA on a work trip, but an allegation that seemed wildly bizarre at first blush at least has some context.
By June 2024, Mr. Ammel had stopped wearing his wedding ring. The complaint alleges Ammel told his wife “it was best for ‘public optics’ so it wouldn’t look like Defendant was putting her hands on a married man when they were out at concerts and various other public events.” There are no flags red enough for this.
The complaint alleges that the following months involved a lot of travel and a lot of Mr. Ammel staying alone with the senator. The whole thing reads like a reverse Hallmark movie where the small town man decides to give it all up for the big city career woman.
In October 2024, soon after Mr. Ammel returned home to Moore County, North Carolina, after being away with Defendant on another work trip, Defendant messaged Mr. Ammel stating, “I miss you. Putting my hand on your heart. I’ll see you soon.” Plaintiff responded to the message stating, “are you having an affair with my husband? You took a married man away from his family.”
Golly. Hard to imagine that a woman who posted pictures of herself wearing a “Fuck Off” ring while her colleagues urged her to help struggling workers could be callous to someone else’s pain.
The Ammels separated in 2024. The complaint says Mr. Ammel removed the last of his belongings from the house in September 2025.
While the complaint alleges that Mr. Ammel and Sinema had an affair — indeed, the complaint alleges that it’s still ongoing — that’s not even necessary to establish a basic claim of alienation. It just requires a third party knowingly engaged in conduct leading to the loss of marital affection. The soon-to-be former Mrs. Ammel also brings a claim for punitive damages alleging that Sinema’s actions were “willful, wanton, intentional, malicious, and in reckless disregard of Plaintiff’s marital rights.”
Alienation of affection is, to be clear, a very stupid tort. It’s an awful carryover from an era when married women were treated as chattel. That said, there’s oodles of topsy-turvey here. It’s a claim brought by the wife and the alleged other woman is the more powerful one in the supposed extramarital relationship. It’s the sort of fact-pattern that 19th century state legislators would have shuddered to think this claim might cover.
Maybe a certain Biglaw firm will lobby the North Carolina legislature for some very, very specific tort reform.
(Full complaint available on the next page…)
Sinema Sued Under Rare Law By Her Former Guard’s Ex-Wife [Law360]
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter or Bluesky if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.