Nicola Sturgeon has been accused of "cashing in" on "cruel" attacks against her former Scottish National Party colleague Alex Salmond.
Ms Sturgeon, 55, became First Minister shortly after Mr Salmond resigned from Bute House after losing the 2014 independence referendum.
Mr Salmond, who passed away last October at the age of 69, was the subject of much of Ms Sturgeon's bombshell memoir, Frankly.
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Ms Sturgeon accused her predecessor of potentially leaking that he was under investigation for sexual misconduct to a tabloid newspaper in 2018.
However, Mr Salmond's family dismissed the claims as "cruel" and "distasteful", with the former SNP leader being cleared of 13 sexual assault charges in a separate criminal trial in 2020.
Ms Sturgeon claimed that it would have been "classic Alex" to leak the information as it would have allegedly allowed the former First Minister to "cast himself as the victim of underhand dealing".
Christina Hendry, who is the niece of the late former First Minister, labelled the suggestion “a fabrication, the invention of a man who wasn’t prepared to reflect honestly on his own conduct”.
She also accused Ms Sturgeon of "cowardice", adding: "She is using his name for relevance, to promote her book, to earn money."
Ex-SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon
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Ms Hendry, 30, later attacked Ms Sturgeon for showing "such disregard to the family and their feelings", particularly Mr Salmond's widow Moira.
The late-First Minister's family spoke out after "reactivating" legal action against the SNP Government.
The action started before Mr Salmond died during a visit to North Macedonia.
A King's Counsel, two junior counsel and a lead investigator have been appointed in the case, The Sunday Mail has claimed.
Ex-First Minister Alex Salmond
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Mr Salmond had been looking for "significant damages" from the SNP Government, including loss of earnings estimated to total £3million.
A friend of the family said: “Her case against the Scottish Government is now live, the legal team is in place, the finance in place and this will be going ahead, no question of that.
“Alex may not be here to defend himself but his family are determined to stand up to those who continue to attack him.”
Ms Hendry also told The Scottish Sun on Sunday: “She should not have to be going through this and neither should any of the family. I find it very distasteful. In some ways it is quite cruel.
Alex Salmond's wife Moira (centre) at St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh during the public memorial service for the former first minister of Scotland Alex Salmond who died aged 69
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“She is using his name for relevance, to promote her book, to earn money – she could have said these things in the past few years.
“She has chosen to wait until he is no longer here to defend himself. It’s left to the family to deal with this and there’s an element of cowardice to that.”
Mr Salmond already won a judicial review in 2019 following a previous court case that found the Scottish Government's handling of the investigation was "tainted by apparent bias".
After the Scottish Government backed down at the 11th hour, Mr Salmond was given £512,250 of taxpayers’ money to cover his legal costs.
Scots mourned the passing of Alex Salmond last year
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In her tell-all memoir, Ms Sturgeon accused Mr Salmond of trying to “distort and weaponise” genuine trauma, labelling such a move as "truly disgraceful".
“It strikes at the heart of why I find it so hard to forgive him," the ex-First Minister added.
She also suggested that Mr Salmond had not read a key White Paper produced ahead of Scotland's 2014 independence referendum, which set out how Edinburgh would sever ties with the UK.
The fall-out of Mr Salmond's spat with Ms Sturgeon resulted in a number of former SNP MPs and MSPs breaking away to form the Alba Party.
GB News has approached Ms Sturgeon for comment.