This part of the article stuck out: > “As we have known from the start, we are in the middle of a civil war with the Guptas and allies on one side, and Johann

This part of the article stuck out: > “As we have known from the start, we are in the middle of a civil war with the Guptas and allies on one side, and Johann Rupert and others on the other side. More mud will inevitably be thrown. However, it is difficult to turn down such a large retainer.” I feel like the blowback the Guptas and their PR flunkies got was more because of the fact that this was a power struggle between different obligarch factions than because of wrongdoing (although obviously they are guilty of that as well). If the Guptas/Pottinger had targeted people without massive wealth and clout among global and European elite circles we might not be getting behind the scenes exposures like these. I think we live in era where ordinary people and interests that don't represent the wealthy have no ability to hit back against character assasination and PR campaigns, and with no one left to go after the future is going to be obligarchs targetting each other, a bit like the late stage Roman republic.