The Real Reason Pro-Donald Trump Film Was Removed From Amazon

A source has told Newsweek of the real reason The Plot Against the President, a pro-Donald Trump documentary, was recently removed from Amazon's Prime Video streaming platform—and it has nothing to do with politics.

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 that remains visible 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 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."

In a statement to the news outlet, Amanda Milius, who produced and directed the film, accused Prime Video 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.

The report sparked outrage among a faction of conservatives on X, formerly Twitter, where there was a widespread suggestion that Amazon was attempting to suppress the film. Joshua Steinman, a former deputy assistant to Trump for national security affairs, accused Amazon of having "banned" the documentary from its platform.

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

However, a source with knowledge of the situation told Newsweek that Prime Video had no issue with The Plot Against the President itself; it was one of several titles that had recently been withdrawn from the platform because of a breach of contract issue with an agency that provided the film. The source added that there is currently ongoing litigation with the provider.

It has not been possible to clarify whether Milius had been informed of this at the time of the film's removal. Newsweek has contacted Milius via email for comment.

Milius, daughter of Oscar-nominated Apocalypse Now screenwriter John Milius, took to X on Wednesday to announce that the documentary is now on alternative platforms in light of its removal from Prime Video.

"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.

Following his election in November 2016, Trump, who is the 2024 Republican presidential nomination front-runner, faced repeated accusations that his campaign was either linked to or compromised by the Russian state.

The 2019 Mueller report, produced by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, said Moscow had interfered in the 2016 election "in sweeping and systematic fashion." However, it "did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government" in these efforts.

In 2022, a lawsuit filed by Trump in Florida against British former intelligence officer Christopher Steele, who compiled the 2016 Steele dossier, Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee and 25 other people alleging that they conspired to undermine his 2016 campaign by spreading false information about his ties to Russia, was thrown out by a federal judge.