Midnight Inquiry

The Midnight Inquiry was an investigation by the Jonathian Police into donations made to the Liberal Party between 2013 and 2015. The investigation was launched after a major leak in which various party donation records were leaked to various news outlets at exactly 12:00am JDT on December 17th, 2014. Five days later, the Police launched an official inquiry, and interrogated several of the party's leaders.
The investigation, which was headed by DOI director Troy Hossenfelder, lasted five months, and the inquiry's results were published on May 3rd, 2015. Between the beginning and end of the investigation, the 2015 elections were held, in which the Republicans were victorious. The donations in question were various high-sum donations made from four specific donors - all based overseas - to the Liberal Party between 2013 and 2014. The inquiry concluded that the donations were most possibly fraudulent, and that a trial should take place. During the trial, various Liberal members, including Lily Danyon, Alexa Roberts, and Mike von Staufstad, testified before courts. On February 6th, 2016, the court ruled that the Liberal Party and its members were innocent, and that the donations had been made by a group of individuals working to bring down the party.
Despite the not-guilty verdict, Joshua Hammond, the party leader at the time, resigned on February 11th, 2016, and was replaced by his deputy, Mike von Staufstad. However, he too resigned on August 15th, and, after a leadership election, was succeeded by Jonas Albert. The scandal was widely expected to be detrimental to the Liberals' chances of winning the 2017, however a political crisis in late 2016 flipped the equation around.
Since the verdict by the courts, numerous conspiracy theories have emerged regarding the Midnight Inquiry, including theories of election interference by a foreign power or even sources within the Republican Party. Rumours have also floated that the 2016 political crisis had been brewed to prevent the Liberals from losing any voters due to the scandal.
Category:Jonathia
Category:Department of Intelligence
Category:Midnight Inquiry
Category:Politics
Category:Political scandals
Category:Government crises
Category:Constitutional crises
Category:News leaks
Category:Liberal Party of Jonathia
Category:2015 scandals
Category:2016 scandals
Category:Scandals