Attorneys for Maryland state Sen. Dalya Attar have asked the U.S. District Court in Baltimore to dismiss three of the eight federal charges against her for alleged conspiracy and extortion.
Those three charges relate to the claims that the Baltimore City Democrat tried to extort a former political consultant by hiding a camera in the woman’s house in order to catch her conducting an affair with a married man.
The motion to dismiss the charges, filed on Dec. 16, states the three counts are unfounded in part because the alleged extortion does not relate to a “transferable” item, only a person’s reputation and livelihood.
“Based upon the offense’s historical origins, the Supreme Court has accordingly instructed that the ‘property extorted must therefore be transferable – that is, capable of passing from one person to another,’” the filing reads.
In the filing, attorneys for Attar argue that the allegations do not meet the requirements to charge Attar and the other two defendants; her brother Joseph “Yossi” Attar, and Baltimore City Police Officer Kalman Finkelstein.
“The indictment cannot sufficiently allege the elements of extortion under either federal or Maryland state law. Rather, the allegations in the Indictment illustrate that the Defendants simply sought to be free of harassment and antagonization,” the filing reads.
In the documents filed last week, Attar’s attorneys also state that the government does not have the alleged video footage that is the basis of the charges.
Attar’s legal team has tried to portray the state senator and her associates as the victim of harassment from the former consultant.
The filing includes a screenshot of a WhatsApp message from the consultant to Joseph Attar that says “Beware . . . When u least expect it, expect it. Goodbye. This is my final warning,” without any further context.
The Attar team alleges that, after the consultant was fired for misconduct during Attar’s campaign for the Maryland House of Delegates in 2018, she began to harass the now-senator and her associates, “relentlessly texting them with threats to cause economic and reputational harm,” according to the document.
“This case is about a family seeking relief from a prolonged campaign of harassment by a disgruntled former employee. Senator Dalya Attar, her brother Joseph “Yossi” Attar, and their friend, Kalman Finklestein, simply wanted to be left alone,” the filing from Dec. 16 reads.
Attar’s lawyers also allege that the formerly employed consultant showed up to the school of Joseph Attar’s children, restaurants that the family attended, and Sen. Attar’s parents for “the sole purpose of haranguing Senator Attar.”
The Attar team did not file documents to have the other five charges dismissed, which includes counts of conspiracy and wiretapping. Attar’s representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Baltimore Jewish Times.
Attar is the first Orthodox woman to serve in the Maryland Senate. The federal indictment against her, unsealed in late October, state that Attar, her brother, and Finkelstein allegedly planted a hidden camera in a smoke detector in the consultant’s home to make recordings of the alleged affair.
Attar represents the 41st District in Northwest Baltimore. She was sworn in for her first term in the Maryland House of Delegates in January 2019 and won reelection in 2022.
In January this year, she was appointed to the Maryland State Senate, becoming its youngest current member. She has remained in office since the indictment.
The Attar team has firmly established their position as being that the charges do not stand up to scrutiny.
“The Indictment cannot sufficiently allege the elements of extortion under either federal or Maryland state law. Rather, the allegations in the Indictment illustrate that the Defendants simply sought to be free of harassment and antagonization,” the document reads. “The value of that freedom—while of legitimate interest to the real victims in this case—does not constitute a transferable property interest required for federal charges. This is not extortion.”
