Major scandal in US politics: "We went inside and had sex"
Kyrsten Sinema, the former US Senator from Arizona, had a turbulent affair with her married bodyguard, which ultimately led to his separation from his wife.
Kyrsten Sinema, the former US Senator from Arizona, revealed details about the affair she had with her bodyguard, Matthew Amel, while he was a married man. The confession took place during testimony given under oath as part of a lawsuit for damages of over 75,000 dollars filed against her by the security guard's ex-wife.
According to reports by "Fox News" and the "New York Post", the lawsuit was filed by Heather Amel, a mother of three, using a law unique to the state of North Carolina that allows cheated spouses to sue their partners' lovers for "alienation of affection". Sinema, 50, who was the first openly bisexual person elected to the US Congress, admitted to having repeated sexual relations with Amel across the United States, an affair that brought an end to a 14-year marriage.
During her testimony on July 31, Sinema described how the affair began around Memorial Day in May 2024, about two years after Amel joined her security team:
"We were at an Airbnb in Napa, California. We were outside. Matt kissed me. We went inside and had sex."
From there, the relationship traveled across the country. The two had sexual relations in Sinema's room in New York during the wedding of CNN anchor Jessica Dean in June 2024. In July, they continued the affair in her apartment in Washington D.C., in August during a fundraising trip to Aspen, Colorado, and in October at her home in Phoenix.
Sinema, who is unmarried and finished her term in the Senate in January 2025, confirmed that she knew throughout the time that Amel was married and a father of three children. His ex-wife testified that she discovered the infidelity on the day her husband returned home intoxicated; she looked through his phone and found romantic messages. In one message, Sinema wrote: "I wake up again and again and reach out for your arms to hold me." In another message, she wrote: "Putting my hand on your heart. See you soon." When a lawyer asked Sinema if she understands why a wife reading such messages might be concerned, she simply replied: "Yes".
In addition to the allegations of infidelity, Heather Amel accused Sinema of providing her husband with psychedelic drugs, allegedly in an attempt to help him cope with traumatic brain injuries he sustained during his military service in the Middle East. Sinema addressed this, saying: "I cared about Matt, he and a number of other members of the security team suffered from brain injuries."
The Amel couple separated in November 2024, and the divorce became official in March of this year. Heather claimed in her testimony that although the senator is a "woman willing to break up a family", her ex-husband is also a "liar and a manipulator". An evidentiary hearing in the case, which was transferred to federal court at the request of Sinema's lawyers, is scheduled to take place on August 19.
