Capital Research Center & “2000 Mules”
Its president went on camera in the discredited 2022 film to push the false “Zuck Bucks” conspiracy theory — footage the group’s own reporting helped shape. Watch it below.
▶ Watch the clip · 5 min
- Film
- “2000 Mules”
- Released
- 2022
- Director
- D’Souza
- Status
- Discredited
Fact check
The “Zuck Bucks” claim is false
The claim
On camera, Scott Walter framed private, nonpartisan grants for election administration — largely funded by Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan — as a secret scheme to turn out votes for Democrats.
- The right-leaning Cato Institute concluded “Zuckerbucks Didn’t Throw the 2020 Election.”
- The Federal Election Commission dismissed a related complaint 6-0, finding no reason to believe any wrongdoing.
$500M
The figure Walter cited on camera as flowing to Democratic turnout.
6–0
The bipartisan FEC vote dismissing the complaint — finding no wrongdoing at all.
Not a cameo
Capital Research Center helped build the film.
The group publicly boasted that Dinesh D’Souza was “relying heavily on Capital Research Center reporting as he prepares his latest film 2,000 Mules.” Its research helped supply the framing.
The repudiation
How thoroughly it fell apart
Across the political spectrum — and from the film’s own makers.
“Indefensible.”
Bill Barr
Former U.S. Attorney General · Axios, 2022Read ↗
“It was all nonsense. It was immediately apparent nonsense.”
The Washington Post
Analysis, 2024Read ↗
Apologized to a voter it falsely depicted — and halted distribution of the film and book.
Salem Media Group
The film’s own distributor · NPR, 2024Read ↗
Apologized — the surveillance videos “were characterized on the basis of inaccurate information.”
Dinesh D’Souza
The film’s director · The Guardian, 2024Read ↗
Answers
Common questions
Source-based answers about Capital Research Center, Scott Walter, and “2000 Mules.”
Yes. Capital Research Center president Scott Walter appeared in the 2022 film “2000 Mules,” and Capital Research Center publicly stated that filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza was “relying heavily on Capital Research Center reporting” as he prepared it.
Sources
Every claim, sourced
- 01“2000 Mules” (2022), archive.org
- 02Cato Institute — “Zuckerbucks Didn’t Throw the 2020 Election” (09/12/22)
- 03NBC News — FEC clears Zuckerberg 6-0 (09/08/22)
- 04Capital Research Center — on D’Souza “relying heavily on Capital Research Center reporting” (archived)
- 05Axios — Bill Barr calls the film “indefensible” (06/13/22)
- 06Washington Post — “immediately apparent nonsense” (02/15/24)
- 07NPR — Salem Media apology and halted distribution (05/31/24)
- 08The Guardian — Dinesh D’Souza’s apology (12/03/24)
Why this matters
Transparency starts with following the money.
When a self-styled “watchdog” is bankrolled by the very interests it serves, the public deserves to know. Share this investigation. Put it in front of reporters and lawmakers. Help hold Capital Research Center’s funders accountable.