'I'll share this video with... every Rabbi in town'

Jewish Maryland official indicted in conspiracy case involving secret sex video

State Sen. Dalya Attar is accused of conspiring with her brother and a police officer to threaten to release a video of a former consultant sleeping with a married man

ANNAPOLIS, Maryland (AP) — A Maryland state senator has been indicted on charges in US federal court, including extortion, for allegedly conspiring to threaten the release of an explicit video of a former consultant’s affair.

The charges relate to State Sen. Dalya Attar’s 2022 campaign for a state House seat. Attar, a Baltimore Democrat and the first Orthodox Jewish woman to serve in the Maryland Senate, was first elected to the state legislature in 2018.

She 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 indictment says Attar 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 married man, “I’ll share this video with everybody you know, everyone she knows, every Rabbi in town, your kids, your wife, her daughters.”

The state 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.”

The political consultant worked for Attar in 2018 but they later apparently had a falling out, prompting Attar to be concerned that the consultant would make future comments about her campaign. The indictment doesn’t provide any details about the break.

According to the indictment, there were secret recordings of the consultant in bed with a married man, with recording devices disguised as smoke detectors. At the time the recordings were made, the consultant was staying 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.

The indictment says that Joseph Attar approached the man who the consultant was recorded sleeping with. He allegedly instructed the man to tell the consultant to “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.

Attar was first elected to her Baltimore district in the Maryland House of Delegates in 2018. 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.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.