2026年3月14日 / 美国东部时间下午2:18 / CBS/美联社
根据法律文件，前美国参议员克里斯滕·西内马承认与自己的一名安保人员存在恋爱关系，这段关系始于她担任议员期间。但她同时声称，不应被该男子前妻的诉讼牵连，而该前妻将婚姻破裂归咎于西内马。
北卡罗来纳联邦法院的诉讼要求西内马赔偿经济损失。西内马曾代表亚利桑那州在众议院任职，后来又在参议院任职一届，其任期于去年年初结束。
希瑟·阿姆尔在诉讼中称，她和丈夫马修曾有“一段美好且充满爱的婚姻”，在西内马介入之前，两人之间存在“真挚的爱与情感”。尽管明知马修已婚，西内马仍对其展开追求。
在本周提交的诉讼回应文件中附带的3月7日签名声明中，西内马表示，她与马修·阿姆尔的关系在2024年5月底变得“浪漫且亲密”，并在随后几个月里在加利福尼亚、纽约、科罗拉多、亚利桑那州和华盛顿特区等地发生了“身体亲密关系”。诉讼称，阿姆尔夫妇于2024年11月分居。
北卡罗来纳州是少数允许被抛弃的配偶起诉“情感疏远”，并向导致婚姻破裂的第三方索赔的州之一。
西内马的声明驳斥了希瑟·阿姆尔的指控，称希瑟明知马修当时身处北卡罗来纳州，有时还与妻子及孩子在一起，西内马仍与其丈夫进行电话沟通和网络联系。
西内马的律师史蒂文·爱泼斯坦在驳回诉讼的文件中写道，西内马在马修已找到新住处且“婚姻早已结束”时，仍向其发送了一条信息。
爱泼斯坦周四表示：“西内马与阿姆尔先生的浪漫关系并未以实质性方式与北卡罗来纳州产生联系。”他补充道，没有陪审团会相信“一条信息与婚姻爱与情感的破坏有关”。
诉讼称，西内马的安保主管在2022年马修退役后雇佣了他。2024年初，希瑟·阿姆尔发现西内马与丈夫在信号（Signal）通讯应用上存在“浪漫且淫邪性质”的信息。同年夏天，马修不再佩戴婚戒，西内马还为其在参议院 staff 中安排了工作，同时马修继续担任她的保镖。
根据诉讼，西内马还为有创伤后应激障碍、药物滥用和与阿富汗及中东军事部署相关的脑损伤的马修支付了致幻治疗费用。
诉讼称，西内马曾建议马修在工作旅行中携带摇头丸（MDMA），“以便她能指导他经历致幻体验”。
据诉讼称，两人的恋情始于2023年秋季，持续至2024年底。据称，他们一起参加了多场音乐会，包括绿日乐队（Green Day）、泰勒·斯威夫特（Taylor Swift）和U2乐队的演出。
克里斯滕·西内马参议员2023年在参议院拨款委员会听证会上作证。马努埃尔·巴尔塞·塞内塔 / 美联社
该诉讼最初于去年年底在北卡罗来纳州法院提起，但于今年1月移至联邦法院。
西内马在2024年任期结束后未寻求参议院连任。在该任期内，她脱离民主党成为独立人士。目前，她在华盛顿的一家法律和游说公司工作。
Former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema admits romance with her security guard as she fights his ex-wife’s lawsuit
March 14, 2026 / 2:18 PM EDT / CBS/AP
Former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema acknowledges having a romantic relationship with a member of her security detail that began while she was a lawmaker, according to legal documents. But she also contends she shouldn’t be subject to a lawsuit by the man’s ex-wife, who blames Sinema for the marriage ending.
The North Carolina federal court litigation seeks financial damages from Sinema, who represented Arizona in the U.S. House and later the Senate for one term that ended early last year.
Heather Ammel contends in a lawsuit that she and husband Matthew had “a good and loving marriage” and “genuine love and affection” existed between them before Sinema interfered, pursuing him despite knowing he was married.
In a signed March 7 declaration attached to a lawsuit response filed this week, Sinema said her relationship with Matthew Ammel “became romantic and intimate” at the end of May 2024 and “physically intimate” over the next several months in California, New York, Colorado, Arizona and Washington, D.C. The Ammels separated in November 2024, the lawsuit said.
North Carolina is one of a handful of states that allow jilted spouses to sue for “alienation of affection” to seek damages from a third party responsible for the breakup of their marriage.
Sinema’s declaration rejects allegations by Heather Ammel that Sinema made phone calls and sent internet communications to her husband with the knowledge that he was physically present in North Carolina and at times with his wife and the couple’s children.
Sinema sent Matthew Ammel a message while he was in North Carolina after he had already found a new place to live and “when the marriage was already over,” Sinema’s attorney Steven Epstein wrote in a filing to dismiss the lawsuit.
Sinema’s “conduct related to her romantic relationship with Mr. Ammel does not connect her to North Carolina in a meaningful way,” Epstein wrote Thursday, adding that no jury would believe that the one message “had any bearing on the destruction of marital love and affection.”
Sinema’s head of security hired Ammel after he retired from the Army in 2022, according to the lawsuit. In early 2024, Heather Ammel discovered messages between Sinema and her husband on the Signal messaging app that were of “romantic and lascivious natures.” That summer, Matthew Ammel stopped wearing his wedding ring and Sinema gave him a job on her Senate staff while he continued to work as her bodyguard, the lawsuit alleges.
Sinema also paid for psychedelic treatment for Ammel, who has struggled with post-traumatic stress, substance abuse and traumatic brain injuries tied to his military deployments in Afghanistan and the Middle East, according to the lawsuit.
The complaint alleges that Sinema suggested that he should bring MDMA on a work trip “so that she could guide him through a psychedelic experience.”
According to the lawsuit, the affair lasted between the fall of 2023 and the end of 2024, and the pair allegedly went to numerous concerts together, including Green Day, Taylor Swift and U2.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema testifying before a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing in 2023. Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP
The lawsuit was initially filed late last year in North Carolina state court, but it was moved to federal court in January.
Sinema declined to seek Senate reelection in 2024 following a term in which she left the Democratic Party to become an independent. She now works for a Washington-based legal and lobbying firm.
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