playverb
I suspect that both sides are playing dirty pool.
"I feel like it's the Republican Party playing dirty pool," she said.
We should not expect an enemy to play by established norms. They will play dirty pool.
They tried to play dirty pool and got caught.
I didn't play any dirty pool and I wish my opponent well.
The company is playing dirty pool by threatening employees for taking industrial action.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Cheating & tricking
anti-fraud
bad faith
bamboozle
bilk
blackmail
deceive
diddle
feint
flannel
funny business
game-fixing
grift
grifter
gull
gyp
prankster
pretext
pretextual
pull
pull a fast oneidiom