Ovidio Guzman's Lawyer Claims He's Being Censored After Being Sued By The Mexican Government: 'I Won't Stay Silent'

Jeffrey Lichtman, lawyer for Sinaloa Cartel leader Ovidio Guzman, said he is being censored after engaging in a clash with the Mexican government that ended up with him being sued for defamation.

Lichtman said in his podcast that after saying the Claudia Sheinbaum administration was acting "as the public relations arm of a narco-trafficking organization" he began receiving "threats, insults, and attacks by a servile press."

Regardless, he added, he said he "won't stay silent." "I said what I had to say. It's nothing personal." Lichtman claimed his statement intended to protect the procedural rights of his clients as he believed the Mexican government was seeking to interfere in their trial.

He went on to say he apologized if his claims were perceived as offensive by the Mexican government, and he is not interested in the country's politics. "I certainly apologize for my harsh language, if it was such.

"In the U.S. we have something called freedom of expression. We have something called right to defense. This is the U.S., not a third world country where politicians try to trample on constitutional rights to stay in power, silencing their critics using the state apparatus and public media," he added.

Lichtman was sued in mid May for defamation by the Sheinbaum administration. The president reiterated that her administration does not engage in relationships of complicity with cartels and ruled out any dialogue with Lichtman.

"First, we will not engage in dialogue with a drug trafficker's lawyer," she said. "Second, we are going to file a defamation lawsuit in Mexico through the Legal Counsel's Office, because this cannot be overlooked."

The clash followed Ovidio Guzman's guilty plea to four charges in the U.S., including drug trafficking, money laundering and firearms offenses. Before his arrest, Guzman was a key figure in Los Chapitos, a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel led by the sons of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzman.

Sheinbaum has for months criticized U.S. prosecutors for negotiating plea deals with cartel figures like Guzman, often calling such actions contradictory considering the Trump administration designated many cartels as terrorist organizations.