When Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI) posted a video on the social media platform X to announce his seven articles of impeachment for President Trump, he did so almost comically. It makes one wonder just what House Democrats were thinking. Thanedar was not exactly the best choice for what should be a grave and most serious course of action. But that question has now been answered. House Democratic leadership had not approved the congressman’s move, and the entire affair turned out to be an ill-timed miscalculation.
Additionally, it has exposed Thanedar as something of a grifter – if emerging reports about the immigrant pharma exec-turned-politician are accurate.
The impeachment adventure unraveled quickly. Top Democrats distanced themselves, with House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-CA) telling reporters, “[T]his is not an exercise that we’re willing to undertake.”
“We’re going to win elections,” Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) bluntly remarked to the Washington Examiner. “We’re not playing those stupid politics.”
A Rogue Impeachment
The day after Thanedar posted his video, three of the four Democrats who initially co-sponsored his resolution – Reps. Kweisi Mfume (MD), Jerry Nadler (NY), and Robin Kelly (IL) – requested that their names be withdrawn. Aides to Kelly and Mfume stated that both had abandoned the effort after learning it was unsanctioned. Rep. Kelly “was under the impression that the resolution was drafted and reviewed by both the House Judiciary Committee and Leadership when she originally signed on during a vote series on the floor,” said her office.
Donavan McKinney, who plans to primary Thanedar, served up perhaps the most pragmatic response to the impeachment push. “We’ve done this. We’ve been through this circus already. How many times has Trump been impeached? He got reelected. He’s not going anywhere. We need to figure out another strategy to fight back.”
Beyond the lack of appetite among House Democrats to talk about impeachment – at least for the time being – Thanedar’s effort has backfired on him personally. Old media reports of his pharmaceutical company’s bankruptcy resurfaced. Insolvency wasn’t the big story, though. After a bank took ownership of the company, AniClin Preclinical Services, Thanedar shuttered his lab and, apparently, just walked away, leaving more than 170 research animals, mostly dogs and monkeys, inside without food and water. The animals were later rescued.
More bad news may be about to engulf the man who took it upon himself to launch an impeachment. Right-wing activist Laura Loomer claims Federal Election Commission records show that Shri for Congress, Thanedar’s re-election campaign, is currently $730,313.81 in debt. Loomer posted details on X:
“This financial hole stems from a staggering -$1,208,286.58 payment recorded on February 28, 2025. According to the FEC filing, the reason for this negative payment is ‘INVESTMENT INCOME LOSS’. Curiously, Shri Thanedar himself is listed as the recipient of this negative payment. Is ‘Getting Trump’ a game reserved for those who grift the hardest?”
Some possible motives have emerged for Thanedar’s unapproved decision to target the president with articles of impeachment. Having apparently used campaign funds to pay off a personal debt, the congressman perhaps hoped to use his impeachment efforts to raise some or all of the money needed to get his campaign back in the black. Or maybe this was about elevating himself above his primary contenders in the eyes of voters.
It turns out – or, at least, it now appears – that Rep. Thanedar was not all that serious about impeachment. Perhaps that explains why his big reveal on X just didn’t come across as genuine. Whatever the case, it is another victory for the president – albeit one of little consequence – and another wound for congressional Democrats to lick as they continue to search for ways to stop the Trump train.
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