A federal prosecutor in the securities fraud case against pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli and his ex-counsel Evan Greebel accused the defendants on April 7 of strategically “ramping up” the animosity between them in an effort to sever their cases.

But attorneys for Shkreli and Greebel fired back that the bad blood is real, with Shkreli’s defense lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, calling Assistant U.S. Attorney Alixandra Smith’s portrayal of the effort “specious.”