ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A Maryland state senator has been indicted on federal charges including extortion related to her 2022 campaign for a state House seat for allegedly conspiring to threaten the release of an explicit video of a former consultant's affair.
State Sen. Dalya Attar, a Baltimore Democrat, was charged in a federal indictment unsealed Thursday that involves her brother, Joseph Attar, and Kalman Finkelstein, a Baltimore police officer who worked on her campaign.
The group conspired to silence a former consultant by threatening to make public a video of her in bed with a married man, according to the indictment. The alleged purpose was to obtain evidence that could be used to prevent her from saying negative things about the lawmaker's campaign.
The senator said in a statement that the case centers on “the allegations of my former disgruntled employee,” and she noted that “we have yet to see any tangible evidence to support the claim that I knew of any illegal actions taken on my behalf.”
“I look forward to sharing my side of the story, and believe the truth will be the arbiter of justice," Attar said. "In the meantime, I will continue to serve my community with humility and honor, and look forward to being as transparent as possible.”
According to the indictment, there were secret recordings of Attar's former political consultant in bed with a married man with recording devices disguised as smoke detectors. The consultant was staying at the time at an apartment owned by Finkelstein's family.
The recording was intended to be used to potentially harm matchmaking efforts for the consultant's daughter, according to the indictment.
“She wants her daughters to get married more than she wants to screw me,” Dalya Attar wrote in a WhatsApp message, according to the indictment.
Dalya Attar apparently had a falling out with the consultant, prompting her concerns about future comments about her campaign, but the indictment doesn’t provide any details about the break.
In January 2020, Dalya Attar sent a series of WhatsApp messages to a co-conspirator, saying that two years later the consultant “is still looking to screw me badly,” according to the indictment.
The indictment says that Joseph Attar went to the man who the consultant was recorded sleeping with to share the message: “Leave Dalya alone.”
“Don't bring her up anymore to anyone,” Joseph Attar allegedly told the man to tell the consultant, according to the indictment. “Stay out of this election, the Delegate election. And make sure she doesn't do anything against Dalya throughout this election.”
None of the defendants had an attorney listed in online court records.
Dalya Attar is the first Orthodox Jewish woman to serve in the Maryland Senate. She was first elected to her Baltimore district in the Maryland House of Delegates in 2018, and the former consultant worked on that campaign. Earlier this year, she was appointed to an open Maryland Senate seat to fill a vacancy.
She has been charged in the eight-count indictment with multiple counts of conspiracy, extortion via interstate communications, aiding and abetting, interception and disclosure of a wire.
The indictment says she conspired with her brother and Finkelstein to prevent the consultant from communicating to members of the Orthodox Jewish community in her district about her voting record.
If the consultant did not refrain from commenting about the election, Joseph Attar allegedly told the man: “I'll share this video with everybody you know, everyone she knows, every Rabbi in town, your kids, your wife, her daughters.”