Conservative commentator and filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza’s book version of his widely debunked election conspiracy film 2,000 Mules has been pulled from shelves due to an unspecified "publishing error."
However, upon reviewing the book’s contents, groups named in its pages as conspirators in D’Souza’s election fraud conspiracy theories said the statements he made are potentially “libelous.”
NPR managed to obtain a copy of the book before it was recalled and asked the publisher to discuss the decision.
The outlet noted that there were no obvious publishing errors in the book that would warrant a recall — no misplaced photos, no obvious typos, no blank or misnumbered pages.
D’Souza claimed that his publisher, Regnery, was at fault for the recall and delay, claiming they missed a substantial error in the book.
“Somehow a significant error got missed by the publisher,” he said on Twitter.
The book makes the same arguments D'Souza laid out in his film 2,000 Mules, which claimed that left-wing nonprofits were involved in illegal ballot trafficking and paid "mules" to collect the ballots and stuff drop-boxes with fraudulent votes for Joe Biden.
Former Attorney General under Donald Trump Bill Barr called the claims made in the film “indefensible.”
In the movie, D'Souza refrains from actually naming any of the groups he's accusing of committing voter fraud — he told Megyn Kelly this was done to fast-track the movie's release and avoid lining up the legal defenses he would have inevitably needed after the nonprofits responded — but the book does contain direct allegations against individual groups.
NPR reached out to the named groups to discuss the allegations made against them and to get their responses.
An attorney for the New Georgia Project, one of the groups mentioned, called the allegations against them "malarkey and hogwash" and "conspiracy theories."
Aklima Khondoker, the Chief Legal Officer for the organisation, said the claims D'Souza made in the book "can be viewed as libelous," and noted that they were never asked for comment by D'Souza.
"It sounds like a bunch of lies committed to paper. And there are legal consequences for doing that," the attorney told NPR.
The National Education Association, a labour union also vilified in the book, told the outlet that the allegations made in the book are "trash."
"We would hope anyone looking at his nonsense can quickly see that these claims are false and designed to gin up those who persist in peddling the Big Lie about the 2020 election," an NEA spokesperson told NPR.
Further adding to the book's release woes is the fact that True the Vote, a conservative group whose research and activism is central to the theories posited by D'Souza in the film, appears to be distancing itself from the product.
NPR reached out to True the Vote for a reaction and was told the group had no participation in the book.
"True the Vote had no participation in this book, and has no knowledge of its contents," Brian Glicklich, a representative for the group, told the outlet. "This includes any allegations of activities of any specific organizations made in the book. We made no such allegations. The book reflects the views of the author, not of True the Vote, Catherine Engelbrecht, or Gregg Phillips."
The Independent has reached out to D'Souza for comment.
