Two men interrupted former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema during a panel discussion last week to claim they were having an affair with her — days after she was hit with a bombshell lawsuit by the ex-wife of her former bodyguard, who accused Sinema of breaking up their marriage.
Sinema (I-Ariz.) and Utah Republican Gov. Spencer Cox were discussing politics, the economy and the tech sector at a Salt Lake City hotel when the disruptions took place this past Friday.
The panelists had just raised the topic of Sinema’s alma mater, Brigham Young University, whose mascot is a cougar, prompting the former Democrat to crack that “I get called that a lot.”
At that moment, a man rose to his feet and loudly proclaimed, “Ladies and gentlemen, I have a confession to make: I am actually having an affair with Kyrsten Sinema,” the Salt Lake Tribune reported.
The unidentified man continued shouting as event staff escorted him from the room — only for a second man to make similar claims before order was restored.
“I’m happy to call her my lover … My wife is leaving me because of you. She’s taking the kids,” one of the men shouted.
Neither heckler was arrested or cited, and it was not immediately clear whether they were joking, the outlet writes.
“I promise I didn’t plan that,” Sinema said after the audience calmed down.
The embarrassing outbursts came days after news emerged that Heather Ammel, the jilted ex-wife of Sinema’s former bodyguard, had sued 49-year-old ex-lawmaker, alleging the pair’s affair led to the dissolution of their 14-year marriage.
Ammel, a mother of three, claims Sinema and her former husband had a romantic entanglement that took place while the pair took jaunts together to locations including Las Vegas, Napa Valley and Saudi Arabia.
“Prior to [Sinema’s] actions, Plaintiff and Mr. Ammel were happily married and genuine love and affection existed between them,” the wild lawsuit alleged.
“As a direct and proximate result of [Sinema’s] intentional and unlawful actions, such marital love and affection was alienated and destroyed.”
Ammel is seeking more than $25,000 in the suit, which was initially filed in September but reached federal court last week.
The suit originated in North Carolina, which is one of a handful of states with “homewrecker laws” on the books that allow people to sue the paramours of their ex-spouses.
The suit also alleges that Sinema suggested her bodyguard try the drug MDMA to work through his mental health challenges, which include PTSD and traumatic brain injuries incurred during multiple deployments to the Middle East, and offered to “guide” him through the experience.
