Distributor Yanks Dinesh D’Souza’s “Election Fraud” Movie, Apologizes And Settles Defamation Lawsuit

The Associated Press reports:

The publisher of “2000 Mules” issued a statement Friday apologizing to a Georgia man who was shown in the film and falsely accused of ballot fraud during the 2020 election.

The widely debunked film includes surveillance video showing Mark Andrews, his face blurred, putting five ballots in a drop box in Lawrenceville, an Atlanta suburb, as a voiceover by conservative pundit and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza says: “What you are seeing is a crime. These are fraudulent votes.”

Salem Media Group said in the statement that it has “removed the film from Salem’s platforms, and there will be no future distribution of the film or the book by Salem.”

NPR reports:

Though “2,000 Mules” has been widely debunked by law enforcement officials and the media, including NPR, the film and book developed a widespread following among supporters of the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen.

According to Andrews’ lawsuit, the allegations in “2,000 Mules” led to violent threats against him and his family. “They worry that again they will be baselessly accused of election crimes, and that believers in the ‘mules’ theory may recognize and seek reprisal against them, and that they may face physical harm,” the lawsuit alleged.

According to a court filing in a related case, Salem settled the lawsuit brought by Andrews for an undisclosed “significant” amount. Salem said that it “relied on representations made to us by Dinesh D’Souza and True the Vote.”

Salem Media owns Hot Air, Twitchy, Red State, Human Events, and Townhall. Its radio station is host to countless prominent right wing nutbags. You may remember that the book version of “2000 Mules” was abruptly recalled a couple of years ago to excise sections that were likely defamatory. Trump has cited “2000 Mules” many times.

The publisher of @DineshDSouza‘s election conspiracy theory film and book “2,000 Mules” has issued an apology to a Georgia voter accused in the film of illegal voting in the 2020 election.

“There will be no future distribution of the film or the book by Salem.” pic.twitter.com/LnnFAJ3SPR

— Tom Dreisbach (@TomDreisbach) May 31, 2024

Some key context Salem is a co-defendant, along with Dinesh D’Souza and True the Vote, in a lawsuit filed by this voter, Mark Andrews.

He is represented by lawyers with @protctdemocracy, which also represented the Georgia election workers who sued Rudy Giuliani for defamation.

— Tom Dreisbach (@TomDreisbach) May 31, 2024