Maryland’s political scene just dropped a bombshell that could rival any Hollywood thriller.
The Daily Caller reported that Democratic state Senator Dalya Attar, alongside her brother and a Baltimore police officer, faces federal charges of extortion and conspiracy in a jaw-dropping scheme to silence a political critic using hidden cameras and blackmail.
Let’s rewind to 2018, when Attar, a former Baltimore prosecutor, was running for the Maryland House of Delegates. Her campaign hired a political consultant, later identified in court documents as Victim 1, to help steer the ship.
Things soured fast, though, with a disagreement leading to Victim 1’s abrupt exit just before the election.
After the split, Victim 1 didn’t exactly become Attar’s biggest fan. Court documents paint a picture of lingering bad blood, with the former consultant openly unsupportive of Attar’s political ambitions.
Fast forward to January 2020, and the plot thickens—literally. Attar, her brother, and the police officer allegedly concocted a plan to secretly record Victim 1 in a compromising situation with a married man, referred to as Victim 2, using cameras hidden in smoke detectors. Talk about a low blow in the game of politics!
According to the indictment, Attar’s brother sneaked into an apartment tied to a relative of the officer to plant these sneaky devices. The goal? Gather dirt to keep Victim 1 from derailing Attar’s campaigns in 2018 and 2022.
The conspiracy didn’t stop at creepy surveillance. In 2021, Attar’s brother reportedly met with Victim 2, pressing him to convince Victim 1 to stay quiet and avoid working for Attar’s rivals. It’s the kind of backroom dealing that makes you question who’s really pulling the strings.
Things got even uglier when Victim 1 took to Facebook to criticize Attar’s voting record. In response, Attar’s brother allegedly threatened to release the recorded video, warning that it could ruin Victim 1’s family, even impacting her children’s prospects in personal matters. That’s not just politics—it’s personal, and it’s chilling.
Let’s be clear: while political disagreements are fair game, resorting to such underhanded tactics crosses a line that no elected official should ever approach. If true, this isn’t just a betrayal of trust—it’s a stark reminder of how far some will go to cling to power.
The indictment pulls no punches in laying out the scheme’s intent. “It was the purpose of the conspiracy that the co-conspirators sought to surreptitiously obtain evidence of the relationship between Victims 1 and 2 so that the evidence could be used to prevent Victim 1 from engaging in any act or speech that could negatively impact the election campaign or political aspirations of Dalya Attar,” it states.
Another gem from the indictment reveals the backstory of the fallout: “Victim 1 was a paid political consultant for Dalya Attar’s 2018 candidacy for the Maryland House of Delegates.
Shortly before the election, Victim 1’s involvement with Dalya Attar’s campaign was discontinued after a disagreement” (Indictment). Sounds like a classic case of sour grapes turning into a full-blown vendetta.
Now, let’s not rush to judgment—everyone deserves their day in court. But if these allegations hold water, they expose a troubling underbelly of political maneuvering that undermines the very democratic process conservatives fight to protect.
The news hit Maryland’s political circles like a thunderclap, with state Senate President Bill Ferguson acknowledging Attar’s arrest in a brief statement.
“This is the first we have been made aware of state Senator Dalya Attar’s arrest, and we don’t have any additional information to provide at this time,” Ferguson noted. Hardly a ringing endorsement, but it’s a start.
While Attar was recently welcomed as a state senator from the 41st Legislative District in a social media post by Ferguson, this scandal casts a dark shadow over her tenure.
What should be a time of public service now risks becoming a circus of courtroom drama. Conservatives and moderates alike must demand accountability, not just for Attar, but for a system that too often lets power corrupt.