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A Democratic state senator from Maryland is accused of orchestrating a scheme to secretly record two critics — including a former campaign consultant — in bed together and then using the footage to threaten and silence them, according to a newly unsealed federal indictment.
Federal prosecutors say Maryland State Senator Dalya Attar, her brother Joseph “Yossi” Attar, and Baltimore Police Officer Kalman Finkelstein secretly filmed the pair during an intimate encounter, then used the recording to intimidate them into silence.
The 20-page indictment, unsealed Thursday, charges the trio with conspiracy, extortion, illegal wiretapping and violations of the Travel Act.
Prosecutors allege the group targeted the consultant, identified as Victim 1, who had worked for Attar’s 2018 campaign and later supported her political rivals. Victim 2 was in a romantic relationship with Victim 1 and was married to another person at the time, the documents say.
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According to the indictment, the defendants placed hidden cameras disguised as smoke detectors and a tracking device in the victims’ apartment, later reviewing footage that showed the pair in bed together.
Prosecutors say the recording was then used to threaten exposure if either victim spoke publicly against Attar or supported her opponents.
By early 2021, Attar allegedly discussed how to stop potential criticism, saying in a WhatsApp message, “We have a very easy…simple way to get her to just shut up and leave us alone… She’s worried about her kids’ shidduchim.” She allegedly added, “I’m not saying we leak this anywhere or ever do that… but I’m saying we warn her… if you go ahead and screw with me, we’re going to leak it.”
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Maryland State Senator Dalya Attar and two other individuals were federally indicted on Oct. 30, 2025, on extortion and conspiracy charges. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/The Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
In December 2021, Joseph Attar allegedly met with one of the victims at a Baltimore shopping center and warned, “I have hours of footage of you in bed with [Victim 1]… Go to [Victim 1] and say leave Dalya alone… or I’ll share this video with everyone you know — every Rabbi in town, your kids, your wife, her daughters.”
Prosecutors say the threats continued into 2022 as the defendants allegedly worked to ensure both victims remained silent before Attar’s re-election campaign. The indictment also says the three coordinated through encrypted WhatsApp messages, which they regularly deleted to avoid detection.
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Dalya Attar (far right) is accused of secretly filming two critics in bed together to try to silence them. (Karl Merton Ferron/The Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The charges carry potential penalties of several decades in prison. Attar’s office did not respond to Digital’s request for comment.
Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley told FOX 45 that Finkelstein has been on administrative duty since 2022 and no longer holds police powers.
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Attar, a Democrat and former Baltimore prosecutor, was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 2018 and appointed to the state Senate in January 2025.
She had been considered a rising figure in Maryland’s Orthodox Jewish community.
