need to know
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Former Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema admits to affair with former bodyguard Matthew Amell and files motion to dismiss lawsuit filed by Amell’s ex-wife
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Heather Ammel sued Sinema in January under North Carolina’s alienation of affection law, saying Sinema “knowingly and knowingly” seduced her husband of 14 years
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Sinema’s motion says that because she and Matthew never had a romantic relationship in North Carolina, she cannot be prosecuted there
Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema admitted to having an affair with her former bodyguard Matthew Amell in a motion filed Thursday to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Matthew Amell, his ex-wife.
In September 2025, Heather sued Sinema in North Carolina, where the Amells live, under the state’s alienation of affection law, which allows a jilted spouse to take legal action against a third party who interferes with a marriage. The lawsuit accuses Sinema and Matthew of “having sexual intercourse on multiple occasions” while Matthew was married to Heather and seeks damages of more than $75,000.
Heather accused Sinema of “knowingly and deliberately” seducing her husband despite knowing he was married with three children. Heather and Matthew separated in 2024, shortly after Matthew joined Sinema’s staff and after 14 years of marriage. Then, in January, Heather filed for divorce.
In a sworn statement on Thursday, Sinema said the relationship between her and Matthew “became romantic and intimate” in late May 2024. “We first became physically intimate on May 27, 2024, while Mr. Amell was performing security duties for me in Sonoma, California,” she said. “We have since had physical intimacy in New York City in mid-June, Washington, D.C., in mid-July, Aspen, Colorado, in late August, Washington, D.C., in late September, and Phoenix, Arizona, in early October.”
But because Sinema, an independent who represented Arizona in the Senate for six years, and Matthew were not physically intimate in North Carolina, Heather cannot sue Sinema in North Carolina, according to a motion filed Thursday by Sinema’s attorney, Steven B. Epstein.
It asked the court to dismiss the case “for lack of personal jurisdiction.”
Sinema’s motion to dismiss also claims that “100 percent” of the phone and email communications between her and Matthew during their relationship “occurred where Mr. Amell was physically located outside of North Carolina,” casting doubt on claims in Heather’s original filing.
“Plaintiff asserts that her jurisdictional claim is based on romantic phone calls and electronic messages that she claims the defendant initiated with Mr. Amell while he was in North Carolina. However, the evidence rebuts her allegations,” the motion states. “During the relevant time period, Mr. Amell traveled outside of North Carolina for at least three different jobs every month except for a few days. The defendant documented every phone call and email communication she had with him, none of which occurred while he was in North Carolina.”
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Heather’s attorney, Thomas VanCamp, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
The lawsuit filed in January lists other instances where Heather said the relationship between Sinema and Matthew went “beyond the bounds of a normal working relationship,” including an allegation that Sinema suggested that Matthew, a war veteran, take ecstasy while on a business trip to help relieve his post-traumatic stress disorder. Sinema said she had “no recollection” of the recommendations in Thursday’s statement.
A 2018 House resolution banned members of Congress from having sexual relations with their staff, but there are no such restrictions in the Senate.
Read the original article on People
