There is a long history of corruption among Baltimore's Democratic Party officials, with a number of them having been brought up on criminal charges.

The latest example of that disturbing trend came this past week when a Democrat state senator was accused of engaging in extortion. 

Indictment names lawmaker's brother, Baltimore police officer

As the Daily Caller reported, Democrat state Sen. Dalya Attar of Maryland was one of three individuals to be indicted by a federal grand jury on Thursday.

Attar, her brother, and a Baltimore police officer, allegedly conspired to extort a woman who previously worked as a consultant for Attar's 2018 Maryland House of Delegates campaign.

"Victim 1 was a paid political consultant for Dalya Attar’s 2018 candidacy for the Maryland House of Delegates," the indictment explained.

"Shortly before the election, Victim 1’s involvement with Dalya Attar’s campaign was discontinued after a disagreement," it continued.

"After leaving Dalya Attar’s campaign, Victim 1 was known by Dalya Attar and her associates to be unsupportive of Dalya Attar’s candidacy for office," the indictment added.

Sexual encounter recorded with hidden camera

The document went on to assert that a hidden camera was then used to record a sexual encounter between the political consultant and a married man in January of 2020.

It was allegedly installed in a smoke detector by Attar's brother, which was located in an apartment building owned by a relative of the police officer.

The indictment maintains that this was done in order "to surreptitiously obtain evidence of the relationship between Victims 1 and 2."

This evidence "could be used to prevent Victim 1 from (i) engaging in any act or speech that could negatively impact the election campaign or political aspirations of Dalya Attar."

Senate president stays mum

The defendants also sought to prevent her from "performing any work for any other candidates for office who would challenge Dalya Attar."

Statement from Senate President Bill Ferguson’s Office on the news that state Sen. Dalya Attar, a Democrat from Baltimore City, had been indicted on federal extortion and conspiracy charges. pic.twitter.com/nzEWehriEb

— Mikenzie Frost (@MikenzieFrost) October 30, 2025

For his part, Maryland Democrat state Senate President Bill Ferguson reacted to news of the indictment with a statement which read, "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."