Congressman Shri Thanedar has filed articles of impeachment against U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, the latest effort from the Detroit Democrat to hold high-ranking members of the Trump administration accountable.
Last week, Thanedar introduced H.Res.1105, which in part accuses Bondi of covering up the investigation into disgraced financier and child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, an associate of President Donald Trump.
It’s not the first time Thanedar has either filed or supported articles of impeachment against the Trump administration. Previously, Thanedar announced charges against Trump and U.S. “Secretary of War” Pete Hegseth. None have been brought to a vote yet, and leaders in the Democratic Party have even gone on the record to discourage the efforts, saying they don’t have enough votes.
But Thanedar — who assumed office in the House of Representatives in 2023 and whose Congressional district includes parts of Detroit, Downriver, and the Grosse Pointes — says he is undeterred.
“We’ve got to keep fighting,” Thanedar tells Detroit Metro Times by phone. “We don’t have to be assured of a win to fight. If we think something is the right thing to do, we should do it.”
He adds, “Because every fight in history — whether it’s voting rights, whether it’s women’s rights, every fight — we never were assured or guaranteed of a win, but because we believed in the cause so much that we pursued it.”
Thanedar notes that he was one of 70 members of the House of Representatives to support an impeachment effort against former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem accusing her of obstructing oversight of immigration detention facilities, of directing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to conduct mass warrantless arrests, and of self-dealing, including claims that she inappropriately used $220 million in taxpayer funds for an ICE recruitment ad campaign starring herself.
In a Congressional hearing earlier this month, Noem claimed Trump approved the ad campaign, which Trump denied. He fired her last week, reportedly angry over her handling of the recruitment campaign.
“Look at Kristi Noem, you know, I signed on to impeach her,” Thanedar explains. “I asked her when she came to my committee if she will resign if she’s not fired. But all of that contributed to getting rid of her. Even though we are a minority, we were able to have enough public opinion to bring enough pressure through our testimonies, and through subpoenas, and through our interviews, that ultimately we succeeded.”
Thanedar’s articles of impeachment against the President, introduced in April of last year, cited the Trump administration’s refusal to comply with a Supreme Court order to facilitate the return of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador.
“And then they brought him back,” Thanedar notes. “So now he’s a free man.”
The articles of impeachment accuse Bondi of obstruction of Congress, obstruction of justice and dereliction of duty, and weaponization and politicization of the Department of Justice.
The first article of impeachment concerns the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which called on the Department of Justice to release all files related to the investigation of Epstein, who died in 2019 in a high-security federal correctional facility in New York City under mysterious circumstances. Bondi only released some of the tranche of files after the legislation’s Dec. 19, 2025 deadline, and withheld files concerning allegations against Trump.
The release of “The Epstein Files” has drawn concern across the political spectrum, with an autoworker in Dearborn calling Trump a “pedophile protector” to his face during visit to a Ford plant earlier this year, drawing Trump’s ire.
“This is the biggest cover up in U.S. history,” Thanedar says. “All of this pales Watergate.”
The articles of impeachment also include allegations that the Department of Justice dropped corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams due to quid pro quo; authorized a $400 million Qatari jet for Trump despite constitutional prohibitions and Bondi’s own conflict of interest as a former Qatari lobbyist; and closed an FBI probe into “Border Czar” Tom Homan taking a $50,000 bribe, among others.
They also accuse the Department of Justice of partisan weaponization on behalf of Trump, including launching bogus investigations into his political enemies.
Bondi’s office did not respond to a request for comment from Detroit Metro Times.
Thanedar says he is focusing on the articles of impeachment against Bondi for now, but is ready to push the efforts against Trump and Hegseth when the timing is tight.
“I am waiting for a right moment to call to get a vote on those,” Thanedar says. “But we’ve done the work. We’ve done the investigation. We have documented it, and we have filed it.”
Trump was impeached by the U.S. House twice for actions taken during his first term from 2017-2020. The first impeachment came in 2019 on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, stemming from his attempt to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate Joe Biden in exchange for military aid. The second impeachment against Trump came in 2021 on a charge of incitement of insurrection following the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
Both times, the Senate voted to acquit Trump. Though a majority of the Senate found Trump guilty of the insurrection charges, including seven Republicans, the vote failed to reach the necessary supermajority.
“Right now, the Republican members of Congress are intimidated by the President,” Thanedar says. “He is, you know, very vindictive. And the rank and file Republican lawmakers aren’t willing to go against the President at this time. But a time will come where the public sentiment has changed.”
Thanadar claims Republicans in Congress have privately told him they support the impeachment efforts. He also believes that backlash to Trump’s policies could sway opinion, including tariffs deemed illegal by the U.S. Supreme Court and launching strikes on Iran that caused markets to swing Monday.
“The gas prices have gone up,” Thanedar says. “People are against this illegal war that was not authorized by Congress. And, you know, the public opinion is shifting. The president is underwater on immigration. He’s underwater on [the] economy. And now he’s underwater on foreign policy.”
Thanedar also believes that these actions could cause the Republican Party to face consequences in the upcoming midterm elections.
“Hopefully if he doesn’t get the message yet, then I believe in November people will have an opportunity to send a strong message to Donald Trump,” Thanedar says.
In the meantime, Thanedar says he will continue to file articles of impeachment against Trump officials, odds be damned.
“I want to keep fighting,” he says. “My constituents want me to fight and I want to continue to fight, and I’m not going to worry about the consequences. It’s the right thing to do … and there will be a time when others will start seeing why this is the right thing to do and they’ll join us.”