Dinesh D’Souza Settles Lawsuit Over Lies In His Film, Just Before Trial 

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India-West News Desk

ATLANTA, GA – A federal lawsuit over the wrongful portrayal of a Georgia man in Dinesh D’Souza’s documentary ‘2000 Mules’ has been settled just in time to avoid a jury trial, ending a case that was riddled with lies backing the film’s claims of widespread illegal ballots being cast. The documentary generated more than $9 million, according to a federal court order cited by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The trial had been scheduled to begin August 17 and was canceled July 30 after the parties reached a settlement.

Mark Andrews sued D’Souza after ‘2000 Mules’ portrayed him as part of an illegal ballot-harvesting operation. The parties reached a settlement before the case was scheduled to go before a jury in Atlanta. The terms were not disclosed, and the court dismissed the case with prejudice.

Andrews’ case was particularly damaging to the documentary’s central narrative because the surveillance footage used to portray him as a criminal showed him legally returning absentee ballots for himself, his wife and their three adult children. Georgia investigators cleared him of wrongdoing.

The episode is the latest legal problem for D’Souza, a prominent conservative political commentator and supporter of President Donald Trump. The documentary alleged that thousands of people had been paid to collect ballots and deposit them in drop boxes across several battleground states. The film became a major talking point among conservative audiences and was promoted by Trump, who hosted a screening at Mar-a-Lago. The film was in line with Trump’s favorite talking point, as he continues to smart over his election loss to Joe Biden.

D’Souza has faced legal trouble before. In 2014, he pleaded guilty in federal court in New York to making illegal campaign contributions through a straw-donor arrangement involving the 2012 Senate campaign of Republican Wendy Long, who was challenging Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. D’Souza said the prosecution was politically motivated. Federal prosecutors rejected that characterization.

Trump later pardoned D’Souza.

D’Souza’s political orbit has also drawn attention through his family. His son-in-law, Rep. Brandon Gill, a Texas Republican, has himself been in the news for comments attacking Indians.

The Andrews case stemmed from surveillance footage of him depositing absentee ballots into a drop box in Gwinnett County, Georgia. ‘2000 Mules’ presented the footage as evidence of criminal activity, with D’Souza narrating: ‘What you are seeing is a crime. These are fraudulent votes.’

But investigators found Andrews had been legally returning ballots for members of his family. He was not engaged in the illegal activity the film alleged.

Andrews filed suit in October 2022 against D’Souza, D’Souza Media, True the Vote and others involved in making and promoting the documentary. According to Protect Democracy, which represented Andrews, the defendants acknowledged they had no evidence that Andrews had been paid to deposit ballots, had visited a drop box more than once, had collected ballots from a nonprofit or had participated in a violent riot.

D’Souza later acknowledged that the information presented in the film was flawed.

In December 2024, he apologized to Andrews. Salem Media Group, which published and distributed ‘2000 Mules,’ also apologized to Andrews and withdrew ‘2000 Mules’ and its companion book from distribution.