Thread by @alanfeuer

After yesterday's epic tale of the IT guy who built El Chapo a secure communication system then worked with the FBI to crack it, it didn't seem like the kingpin's trial could offer better.
Then came today's tale of marital--and extramarital--text messages.
nytimes.com/2019/01/09/nyr…

The question of why El Chapo's wife showed up in court today for the humiliating ordeal of having not just her own private text messages w/him revealed to the world, but also those of him and mistress is an utterly fascinating one.
Here are some theories.

The main idea is that she must, at all costs, be seen to be standing by her man. This is not just lip-service, Tammy Wynette stuff, but in essence a matter of survival.
Emma Coronel almost certainly relies financially on whatever remains of Chapo's fortune.

There's also the issue of actual survival. When Chapo gets convicted it will shift the politics of the cartel in a way that could prove dangerous to Emma. She needs allies. One way to keep them is to show that's sticking by El Chapo.

She's clearly caught in a hurricane of competing forces. And despite the fact that she was deeply implicated in Chapo's criminal enterprise, there's something sympathetic about her, in the way she's shown that she's going to gut this one out.
*End editorial*