Hyperactivity Crisis

The Hyperactivity Crisis was a political scandal in the Grand Republic of Delvera in which Minister of the Interior Samuel Johnson threatened to shut down various government projects if the confederal government did not immediately take the actions he desired. This resulted in the arrest and impeachment of Consul Casey Pemberton and President Jordan Brizendine, as well as the impeachment of Minister Johnson.

Background
In March 2016, Samuel Johnson, then-President of the Democratic Republic of Doronis, contacted the confederal government seeking dependency status for his Missouri-based micronation. The government agreed, and a treaty of dependency was signed on 21 March. In less than a month, however, Johnson disbanded Doronis for personal reasons, citing among other things a move to New Mexico to attend college. Later that year, Johnson applied for Delveran citizenship, founding the Colony of Chapuline in New Mexico on 31 December. Johnson brought enthusiasm and a myriad of ideas for economic, agricultural, and infrastructural development projects to the confederal government, and he was soon made Secretary of Science, then Minister of the Interior by Consul Pemberton in January 2017. The confederal government agreed to finance several of these projects, and Minister of Commerce Dylan Callahan diverted thousands of curos from the confederal budget toward the initiatives. As Minister Johnson settled into Delvera, he took an ever-increasing interest in its politics and laws, proposing several amendments to the latter.

Holding Chamber hostage
On 15 February, Johnson demanded that the Chamber of Deputies open for a discussion and vote on a proposed loan for his agricultural projects. President Brizendine was otherwise engaged, and was unwilling to open the Chamber. In response, Johnson sent messages to Consul Pemberton in which he threatened to shut down the projects if the government did not act immediately. Brizendine complied and opened the Chamber, but was unable to properly chair the session because of his external engagements. Due to this, Deputy from Neosho Hannah Callahan stated that the session had been illegitimate and therefore all proposals discussed and voted on therein were null and void. The Chamber met again to discuss the issues, this time with proper authority, on 19 February. Ultimately, loans were determined to be outside the purview of the Chamber and instead in the authority of the Ministry of Commerce.

Impeachment
On 20 February, the Delveran Armed Services held Winter Drill Exercises in Lavrasia. Supreme Commander Dylan Callahan and Deputy Hannah Callahan attended the exercises, and upon the arrival of the Neoshans, DAS personnel arrested Consul Pemberton, who would stand for impeachment. President Brizendine recused himself from oversight of the trial due to conflict of interest, as he was next in the consular succession, leaving Supreme Commander Callahan as acting President and therefore in charge of the proceedings. Consul Pemberton was charged with negligence of the law, ignorance of the law, and acting under coercion. The Consul pled guilty on all counts, but stated that he had been educating himself on Delveran law and that he had only been acting under the advisement of Brizendine, accusing the President of negligence of duty. Pemberton was found not guilty due to extenuating circumstances. President Brizendine was subsequently arrested by DAS personnel on Callahan’s order, and was charged with negligence of his duties. He defended himself by stating that he had not neglected any legal obligations. Brizendine was also found not guilty. Finally, Minister Johnson was impeached on charges of coercing the government and misusing the responsibilities of his office. Johnson was unable to attend his trial immediately, and the Chamber adjourned for lunch. Later in the day, Johnson was able to attend via video conference, at which point he was offered a plea deal. He accepted and pled guilty, marking the end of the crisis.

Aftermath
The crisis demonstrated the need for a defined line of succession in the consulate, which had just recently been introduced with the Succession Act. Further, it necessitated the creation of a criminal code, considering that none of the crimes with which the impeached officials were charged were actually illegal according to Delveran law at the time. When the Delveran Criminal Code was adopted by the Chamber in June, it included the crime of “sammery”, which was defined as “intentional misuse or abuse of appropriated powers by a government employee, or encouraging the same of another employee.” After the crisis, Samuel Johnson became increasingly less involved in Delveran life. As Minister of the Interior, he had been in charge of the upcoming consular election planned for June 11, including organizing debates and the vote itself. He abruptly resigned from the post in April, which caused the election to be delayed for nearly a month. He renounced his citizenship and disbanded Chapuline the same month. In September 2017, he reappeared briefly on the Delveran scene before departing again before the end of the year.