ANNAPOLIS, MD — Maryland State Sen. Dalya Attar, a Baltimore Democrat, has been indicted on federal extortion and conspiracy charges tied to her 2022 state House campaign. The indictment, unsealed Thursday, accuses Attar, her brother Joseph Attar, and Baltimore police officer Kalman Finkelstein of conspiring to threaten a former campaign consultant with the release of an explicit video to silence criticism.
Prosecutors allege the group obtained recordings of the consultant’s affair using devices disguised as smoke detectors inside an apartment owned by Finkelstein’s family. According to the indictment, the footage was intended to “prevent the consultant from saying negative things about the lawmaker’s campaign” and to influence matchmaking efforts for the consultant’s daughter.
In WhatsApp messages cited by prosecutors, Attar wrote that the consultant “is still looking to screw me badly.” Her brother allegedly warned the man involved in the affair to “make sure she doesn’t do anything against Dalya throughout this election” or the video would be shared “with every Rabbi in town.”
Attar, the first Orthodox Jewish woman to serve in the Maryland Senate, was appointed earlier this year to fill a vacant seat. She faces eight federal counts, including conspiracy, extortion, and unlawful wire interception.
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