Matthew Ammel is jailed after allegedly causing more than $200,000 in damage at Sinema’s home and violating release conditions. Prosecutors say he later tried to get a message to Sinema asking her to post bond.
Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s already bizarre relationship saga has somehow added a bail request from jail.
Matthew Ammel, Sinema’s former bodyguard and ex-boyfriend, remains jailed after prosecutors accused him of causing more than $200,000 in damage to her Arizona home, violating pretrial-release conditions and trying to obtain weapons. According to The Daily Beast, prosecutors now say Ammel attempted to send Sinema a message through a bail bondsman asking her to post his bond.
That request would be awkward in almost any breakup. It becomes spectacularly awkward when the person you are asking for bail money is also the person whose house you are accused of trashing.
Authorities say Ammel damaged paintings, expensive alcohol and a large mirror during an August incident at Sinema’s Cave Creek home. Investigators estimated the damage at more than $200,000. Ammel has not been convicted, and the criminal allegations remain pending.
After initially being released with monitoring and stay-away conditions, Ammel was arrested again when authorities said he violated those restrictions. Prosecutors allege he visited a gun shop, sought to have a large knife engraved and had discussed obtaining a rifle through military contacts.
The state argued those actions raised safety concerns and asked the court for stricter conditions. Ammel’s defense has disputed the most alarming interpretation of some of the conduct, including the purpose of the engraved knife.
Then came the alleged bail message. Prosecutors say Ammel tried to get a bondsman to contact Sinema and ask whether she would post his bond. Sinema’s attorney characterized the effort as continued harassment and intimidation.
The relationship itself was already tangled before the criminal case. Ammel’s former wife sued Sinema under North Carolina’s alienation-of-affection law, alleging Sinema had an affair with him while the couple was married. In a deposition, Sinema acknowledged that she and Ammel began a sexual relationship while he was still married.
That means the current story contains a former senator, a married bodyguard, a civil “homewrecker” lawsuit, an alleged $200,000 property-damage rampage, weapons concerns and a jailhouse request that the ex-girlfriend allegedly being targeted please cover the bond. Somewhere, a streaming executive just opened a notes app.
Sinema left the Senate in 2025 and is no longer an elected official, which makes this less a policy story than a public-figure legal spectacle. The serious part is that prosecutors say they are worried about escalation and safety, and those claims should not be reduced to relationship gossip.
At the same time, the facts are undeniably strange. The person Ammel allegedly harmed financially is also the person he allegedly wanted to finance his release. That is not a legal defense strategy most textbooks recommend.
Ammel remains entitled to the presumption of innocence on the pending charges. Courts will determine what happened at the house, whether he violated release conditions and what restrictions are appropriate going forward.
But as a headline, the newest twist writes itself: after an alleged six-figure rampage at Sinema’s home, prosecutors say her ex tried to get her to pay the bill that would let him out of jail.
