wire-puller

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

wire-puller
    n 1: one who uses secret influence (i.e. pulls wires or strings)
         for his own ends

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

wirepuller \wirepuller\, Wire-puller \Wire"-pull`er\, n.
   One who pulls the wires, as of a puppet; hence, one who uses
   secret influence (i.e. pulls wires or strings) for his own
   ends; an intriguer.
   [1913 Webster]

         Political wire-pullers and convention packers.
                                                  --Lowell.
   [1913 Webster]