The family of a Maltese journalist killed by a car bomb has accused a government minister of divulging confidential information that could hamper the investigation into her Oct. 16 killing.

Malta's government released a letter on Wednesday in which Daphne Caruana Galizia's family objected to a statement Home Minister Michael Farrugia made in Parliament.

Farrugia told lawmakers last week that an investigating magistrate "has access to certain personal items which belonged to Daphne Caruana Galizia."

He rejected the accusation from her relatives, saying he conveyed only information that was already public.

The slain journalist's family says it is prepared to take legal action to prevent the government from sabotaging the investigation.

Her survivors urged Farrugia to stop making sensitive information available to the public and "in turn, to the perpetrators of the murder."