muddy the waters

And now, at the eleventh hour, a shadowy group is barging in to muddy the waters even further.

Many presidents in the past half-century have remarked, toward the end of their terms in office, that the country has just “one president at a time,” and that it would muddy the waters—and could even undermine U.S. policy—if an election’s winner started acting as if he were already in power during the two-and-a-half months before Inauguration Day.

I think this really shows how powerful it can be to muddy the waters and to chill people from participating in direct democracy.

No doubt, the biggest prize is a chance to muddy the waters, when it comes to who is responsible for the rising tide of political violence in the U.S. today.

Ms. Bauer said that the term “advanced birth centers” — so similar to the birthing centers run primarily by midwives — would muddy the waters for patients.