the.com/cabal

means A small group of people secretly plotting together, usually for political or self-serving ends.

from Comes from Hebrew 'qabbalah' (received tradition), via medieval Latin and French 'cabale,' originally referring to Jewish mystical teachings passed down secretly. The word picked up a conspiratorial English sense in the 1600s, partly helped along by a popular — and almost certainly false — story that it derived from the initials of five scheming ministers under Charles II (Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, Lauderdale) who happened to spell CABAL. That acronym tale is folk etymology; the real root is the secretive, esoteric flavor of 'kabbalah' itself.