Washington is full of operators who trade in access, intelligence, and the language of authority. They present themselves as guides through risk. But a lawsuit now before a US court paints a more troubling picture—of advisers who allegedly turned on a client and used their influence to damage his business, reputation, and standing with a foreign government.
The case has been brought by Ovik Mkrtchyan and his company, Gor Investment, against Straife, a corporate intelligence firm with a Washington office, along with its chief executive Joseph Fleming and lobbyist Stephen Payne, a former Bush White House official. The lawsuit is framed not just as a business dispute, but as a story of insiders who, after a fallout, allegedly deployed their networks and expertise against a former client.
