In this month’s Georgian vote, the billionaire Boris Ivanishvili was effectively elected as that nation’s next prime minister. The apparently peaceful transition from Rose revolutionary Mikheil Saakashvili might be likened to the historic transfer of power after the U.S. election of 1800. Except that Thomas Jefferson didn’t sue his country for $186 million three weeks before he was elected.

Last month Ivanishvili, a French citizen, filed a claim with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) under the Franco-Georgian investment treaty. The notice of dispute — written by lawyers at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom — accuses the Saakashvili regime of a shamelessly inventive campaign of political intimidation.