Impeachment snafu prompts a friendly reminder to House Democratic aides

A top aide to Rep. Jerry Nadler reminded fellow Democratic staffers to let each other know when their bosses sign on to bills after several lawmakers removed themselves as cosponsors from Rep. Shri Thanedar’s impeachment resolution targeting President Donald Trump.

“Members can walk away with different impressions of a conversation, and a quick check-in with staff can go a long way in avoiding confusion,” the aide, Andrew Heineman, wrote in an Thursday email to all Democratic legislative directors obtained by POLITICO. “I don't think any of us want to learn that their boss was added to a bill that's been introduced from a Google Alert.”

Thanedar (D-Mich.) introduced a resolution Monday to impeach Trump with four Democrats listed as cosponsors: Nadler of New York, plus Reps. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, Robin Kelly of Illinois and Kweisi Mfume of Maryland.

But all four of the other lawmakers who had signed onto Thanedar's resolution have since withdrawn as cosponsors and implied that they were mistakenly added to the legislation after conversations with Thanedar.

"The Congresswoman was under the impression that the resolution was drafted and reviewed by experts from the House Judiciary Committee," Kelly’s spokesperson said.

A Mfume spokesperson said he removed himself “because he was made aware it was not cleared by Democratic leadership and not fully vetted legally — and he preferred to err on the side of caution.”

Thanedar in a statement said he respected his colleagues' decisions. He added that filing impeachment articles was "not a decision I came to lightly and can appreciate anyone that wants to think deeply about this."

He said Rep. Al Green of Texas, a longtime advocate of impeaching Trump who has indicated he plans to file his own articles, has now formally joined as a co-sponsor. "As more offices analyze the articles, I hope more will come on board," Thanedar said.