比喻用造谣生事、挑拨离间等手段，故意把事情搞乱，以便达到某种目的to muddy the waters

• 黑箱操作，诡谲扑朔，很容易把水搅浑。

  Handling things under the counter and being vague or needlessly complex all serves to muddy the waters.

• 有关人员把假材料送到中央有关部门，试图把水搅浑，使案子不了了之。

  Someone sent forged documents to the central authorities in an attempt to muddy the waters and make the case drag on indefinitely.