Dinesh D’Souza, a conservative filmmaker and author, has apologized for false accusations made in his 2022 documentary film “2000 Mules,” which claimed to show evidence of illegal ballot trafficking during the 2020 presidential election. According to D’Souza, the film relied on cell phone geolocation data provided by conservative non-profit group True the Vote, which has since been discredited as false.
D’Souza acknowledged that his film and companion book wrongfully accused individuals of participating in illegal ballot harvesting based on the false data, and that one of these individuals, Mark Andrews, has since come forward to publicly dispute the claims made against him. Andrews, who was featured in the film with his image blurred, has filed a lawsuit against D’Souza, True the Vote, and Salem Media, alleging defamation and harm to his reputation.
D’Souza’s apology comes as part of a settlement reached with Andrews, although it is unclear whether the agreement also includes financial compensation or other terms. In a statement, D’Souza acknowledged that the claims made in his film and book were misleading and inaccurate, and that he did not intend to harm Andrews or his family.
True the Vote, the conservative non-profit group that provided the disputed data, had previously claimed that its technology was so accurate that it had been used to solve a murder. However, NPR found that this was not the case, and the organization later admitted that it did not have the evidence to support its claims of illegal ballot stuffing.