Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Az.) filed a court document in the case involving her affair with a former security guard, claiming the law doesn't apply to her because she has no ties to the state in which she is being charged.
An obscure North Carolina "homewrecker" law is being used to allege that Sinema broke up the couple's 14-year marriage, reported The Arizona Republic.
Heather Ammel, the ex-wife of Matthew Ammel, has argued that North Carolina’s law doesn't require that every action be taken in North Carolina.
Sinema said in her filing that since she has no ties to North Carolina and didn't interact with Ammel while he was in the state until after the couple was separated, the "alienation-of-affection" law doesn't apply.
The report said that the court filing "detailed the dates and locations of a half-dozen sexual encounters with [Sinema's] then-security guard in 2024 to bolster her argument that almost none of her relationship with him happened in North Carolina."
The encounter details include "luxe trips to Napa Valley and Saudi Arabia." Another cited Matthew Ammel drinking "Dom Perignon with Sinema and Cindy McCain at an event in Las Vegas."
One of the visits Sinema made to North Carolina, the court documents show, was when she “sat out in the parking lot during (Heather Ammel) and Mr. Ammel’s domestic mediation at (Heather Ammel’s) counsel’s office."
Heather Ammel alleged that many of Sinema's text messages to her then-husband came while he was in North Carolina. One of those included a racy photo Sinema sent of herself.
“Mr. Ammel responded to the picture stating that she needed more iron in her diet, and (Sinema) replied to Mr. Ammel stating, ‘show me a woman who doesn’t,'" the report cited from Heather Ammel's allegations.
The report noted that the suit has sparked broader legal debate about laws on the books similar to the one in North Carolina, which rely on an element of moral judgment in legal rulings.
U.S. District Judge David Bragdon was nominated to the bench by President Donald Trump and opposed by Democrats who questioned him on legal cases like the one he now oversees. He once had a website he titled “David Bragdon’s Radical Conservative, Republican, Libertarian Home Page." In one post, Bragdon argued that unplanned pregnancies were the "consequences" of reckless behavior. A “woman knows the risk when she chooses not to use birth control and thus must face the consequences," he wrote.
When questioned on it, Bragdon said he didn't remember what he meant by the comments at the time.
