The federal government is attempting to “murder” El Chapo’s family by leaking rumors that the Mexican drug boss’ wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, is preparing to cooperate with U.S. prosecutors, said Jeffrey Lichtman, a laywer representing the 31-year-old former beauty queen. Coronel Aispuro is facing charges in the U.S. for her alleged role in helping to run the Sinaloa cartel. In an interview on WABC Radio’s The Other Side of Midnight, Lichtman—who has also defended John Gotti Jr., rapper Fat Joe, and professional wrestler the Ultimate Warrior, said the planting of the initial story about Coronel Aispuro’s apparent cooperation was the work of federal agents. A subsequent piece in the New York Post reported that Coronel Aispuro is preparing to “rat out high-ranking members of the Sinaloa cartel, including her own stepsons.” The idea “first started on a blog, a website, I think it’s called Vice, some scummy blog,” Lichtman continued, insisting that promoting the notion Coronel Aispuro would turn state’s evidence constituted “an attempt [by U.S. authorities] to murder her and her family." “Let’s be clear about this," he said. "She’s got two 9-year-old girls that are exposed, obviously, and to put this out there so flippantly is designed to kill them.”