Amazon Removing 'The Plot Against The President' Movie Raises Questions

Amazon's removal of pro-Donald Trump documentary The Plot Against the President from its Prime Video streaming platform has sparked questions on social media.

Released in 2020, the 90-minute film follows the "true story of how Congressman Devin Nunes uncovered the operation to bring down the President of the United States," per a summary of the documentary on Prime Video.

The Plot Against the President is based on the book of the same name that was written by investigative journalist Lee Smith, who had access to Nunes.

According to Smith, popular opinion is that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election but it was not Moscow, but the "deep state" targeting Trump and Americans, that did the real damage. Nunes, who was chairman of the House Intelligence Committee at the time, "uncovered the operation to bring down the commander-in-chief," a description of the book states.

On Wednesday, Breitbart reported that the documentary had been removed from Prime Video "without explanation." Newsweek has verified that searches for the film either bring up no results, or a notification stating that the "video is currently unavailable to watch in your location."

A source with knowledge of the situation told Newsweek that Prime Video has no issue with The Plot Against the President itself; it was one of many other titles recently withdrawn from the platform due to a breach of contract issue with an agency that provided the film. The source added that there is currently ongoing litigation with the provider.

Amanda Milius, who produced and directed The Plot Against the President, took to X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday to announce that the documentary has now been moved to alternative platforms.

"We would like to announce that The Plot Against the President has been released @OnLocals & @rumblevideo as of tonight for Thanksgiving day & beyond," she wrote, sharing the corresponding links with X users.

When an X user asked what would happen if they had purchased the documentary on the platform, Milius responded that they should "write Amazon and demand [your money] back. It's truly unfair and there's nothing we can do about it."

"Hey @amazon what do you say to people who purchased @PATPmovie to have in their accounts forever?" Milius continued. "Will you be refunding them since you removed the movie without cause?"

Once titles are purchased on Prime Video, they remain in the customer's possession, even if they are eventually removed from the platform.

Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn showed his support for the "amazing" documentary's move, writing: "The production & writing team would like to announce that 'The Plot Against the President' has been released @OnLocals & @rumblevideo as of tonight for Thanksgiving day & beyond."

The news sparked a strong reaction on X, where Amazon was accused of having "blacklisted" the documentary.

"Remember kids, Amanda Milius's Plot Against the President was THE TOP DOCUMENTARY of 2020, and NOBODY wanted to talk about it," wrote Joshua Steinman, a former deputy assistant to Trump for national security affairs. "No media coverage. No fawning profiles ('Top Female Director!') Silence. And you wonder why Amazon banned it just a few days ago..."

With Trump vying for the 2024 presidential nomination, one X user commented: "Amazon is censoring anything that might help GOP win!"

Suggesting that Make America Great Again (MAGA) conservatives take their business elsewhere in response, another stated: "I'm sick of all these bastards who want to shut us up. MAGA needs to stop doing business with all of them. We need to exercise our economic clout."

"Looks like Amazon is going to war with Donald Trump again," a different X user posted. "I'm glad I saw this documentary, The Plot Against The President, before it was taken down. What Amazon did to Parler after the 2020 Election was pure unadulterated evil. Really bad!"

In January 2021, Amazon Web Services (AWS) said that it had suspended Parler's account following the January 6 Capitol riot that month. In a court filing, AWS said that the suspension came as a "last resort," after Parler was deemed to be both "unwilling and unable" to address extremist speech.

The website hosting giant argued argued that Parler failed to remove content that "[threatened] the public safety, such as by inciting and planning the rape, torture, and assassination of named public officials."

Documentary filmmaker Jason Rink shared a screenshot of a documentary about white nationalist Nick Fuentes that also appears to no longer be available on Prime Video.

Captioning, the image, he said: "Gotta admit I am amazed that Amazon allowed this film on the platform in the first place, but looks like they are purging conservative documentaries. @AmandaMilius film Plot Against The President also was removed. You can still see Most Canceled Man on @MyMoviesPlus!"

Some X users expressed hostility to Milius' film. One wrote: "Amazon pulled 'The Plot Against the President' because they didn't want the liability if any of you nuts went nutty and and destroyed s***, or people."

Mocking the documentary, another X user posted: "What a load of garbage. Plot against the President? I see nothing but plots by Trump against the American people."

In discussing the removal of The Plot Against the President from Prime Video, director Milius accused the platform of being "embarrassed" by the film's popularity.

"In my opinion, Amazon was embarrassed that this film they had no idea about, and probably ideologically disagree with, ever did so incredibly well on the platform, even if it made them a lot of money," she said in a statement to Breitbart.

Update 11/23/23, 4:45 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with a source clarification.