camarilla

noun

1. A secret, usually sinister, group of conspiring advisors close to the leadership; a cabal.

   “The same lack of accountability has been even more disastrous for the two state-owned banks, which exist primarily to funnel IMF and World Bank funds to the president and his camarilla in the form of unsecured loans.”

   “The negotiation dripped with bad faith on both sides, with a powerful Austrian camarilla always seeing it as a short-term deal with the Hungarians to be followed by retribution in due course.”