Absolute Proof

{{See also|Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election}}

In the documentary, Lindell hosts numerous cybersecurity experts and anonymous persons whose testimonies allegedly support his claim that Chinese and Iranian hackers hacked into voting machines in order to influence the results of the election in favour of Biden.{{cite web |url=https://www.factcheck.org/2021/02/mypillow-ceos-video-rehashes-debunked-election-fraud-claims/ |title=MyPillow CEO's Video Rehashes Debunked Election Fraud Claims |date=February 5, 2021 |work=FactCheck.org |access-date=August 6, 2021 }}

File:Mike Lindell (50755882433) (cropped).jpg

• Mike Lindell
• Brannon Howse
• Mary Fanning{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/05/politics/mike-lindell-mypillow-ceo-election-claims-invs/index.html |title=MyPillow magnate Mike Lindell's latest election conspiracy theory is his most bizarre yet |date=August 5, 2021 |work=CNN |first1=Casey |last1=Tolan |first2=Curt |last2=Devine |first3=Drew |last3=Griffin |access-date=August 6, 2021 }}
• Phil Waldron{{cite news |url=https://factcheck.thedispatch.com/p/assessing-the-various-claims-in-mike |title=Assessing the Various Claims in Mike Lindell's 'Absolute Proof' |date=February 16, 2021 |work=The Dispatch |first=Khaya |last=Himmelman |access-date=August 8, 2021 }}
• Matthew DePerno{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/05/technology/three-false-claims-about-the-election-made-in-mike-lindells-new-film.html |title=Three false claims about the election made in Mike Lindell's new film |date=February 5, 2021 |work=The New York Times |first1=Kellen |last1=Browning |first2=Tiffany |last2=Hsu |access-date=August 8, 2021 }}
• Mellissa Carone
• Russell Ramsland
• Shiva Ayyadurai

On November 7, 2020, Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 U.S. Presidential election.{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/07/politics/joe-biden-wins-us-presidential-election/index.html |title=Biden defeats Trump in an election he made about character of the nation and the President |date=November 7, 2020 |work=CNN |first1=Stephen |last1=Collinson |first2=Maeve |last2=Reston |access-date=August 6, 2021 }}{{cite news |url=https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-wins-white-house-ap-fd58df73aa677acb74fce2a69adb71f9 |title=Biden defeats Trump for White House, says 'time to heal' |date=November 8, 2020 |work=Associated Press |first1=Jonathan |last1=Lemire |first2=Zeke |last2=Miller |first3=Will |last3=Weissert |access-date=August 6, 2021 }} Alleging that voter fraud switched several million votes for Joe Biden, Trump's campaign and Republican allies challenged the election results. At least 63 lawsuits were filed, although none were successful.{{Cite web |last1=Cummings |first1=William |last2=Joey Garrison and Jim Sergent |date=January 6, 2021 |title=By the numbers: President Donald Trump's failed efforts to overturn the election |url=https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/politics/elections/2021/01/06/trumps-failed-efforts-overturn-election-numbers/4130307001/ |access-date=January 10, 2021 |website=USA Today}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/08/us/supreme-court-republican-challenge-pennsylvania-vote.html |title=Supreme Court Rejects Republican Challenge to Pennsylvania Vote |first=Adam |last=Liptak |date=December 8, 2020 |work=The New York Times}} Trump and his allies unsuccessfully urged officials in states that Biden won to disqualify some ballots and to challenge vote certification processes.{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-escalating-attacks-put-pressure-on-vote-certification-process/2020/11/19/42f5fd76-2aa5-11eb-8fa2-06e7cbb145c0_story.html |title=Trump's escalating attacks put pressure on vote certification process |first1=David A. |last1=Fahrenthold |first2=Beth |last2=Reinhard |first3=Elise |last3=Viebeck |first4=Emma |last4=Brown |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=November 25, 2020 |archive-date=November 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124161435/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-escalating-attacks-put-pressure-on-vote-certification-process/2020/11/19/42f5fd76-2aa5-11eb-8fa2-06e7cbb145c0_story.html |date=November 20, 2020 |url-status=live}} Even after Biden was inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States on January 20, 2021, Trump and others, including Lindell, continued to maintain that Trump had actually won the election.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/interactive/2020/election-integrity/|title=Election results under attack: Here are the facts|last=Gerhart|first=Ann|date=March 11, 2021|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=15 August 2021}}

On February 5, 2021, One America News Network live streamed the film on its website. Introduced with a disclaimer,{{cite web |url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/mike-lindells-absolute-proof/ |title=Did Mike Lindell's 'Absolute Proof' Vid on Election Fraud Run with Disclaimer Labeling Content as Opinion? |date=February 8, 2021 |work=Snopes |first=Dan |last=Evon |access-date=August 7, 2021 }} the film shortly afterward went viral. Several hours after the live stream, YouTube and Vimeo removed all recordings of the film from their sites, citing violations of their community standards,{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/feb/6/mike-lindell-my-pillow-ceo-has-conspiratorial-pro-/ |title=Mike Lindell, My Pillow CEO, has conspiratorial pro-Trump film yanked from YouTube, Vimeo |date=February 6, 2021 |work=The Washington Times |first=Andrew |last=Blake |access-date=August 6, 2021 }} but not before it had tens of thousands of views.{{cite news |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/mike-lindells-election-fraud-movie-absolute-proof-has-absolutely-no-proof/ |title=Mike Lindell's Election Fraud Movie 'Absolute Proof' Has Absolutely No Proof |date=February 5, 2021 |work=Vice |first=Paul |last=Blest |access-date=August 7, 2021 }}

The film was widely criticized by fact-checkers as being full of "debunked, unsubstantial claims."{{cite news |url=https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2021/02/fact-check-mike-lindell's-absolute-proof-video-promising-to-expose-election-fraud-is-full-of-false-and-unproven-claims.html |title=Fact Check: Mike Lindell's 'Absolute Proof' Video, Promising To Expose Election Fraud, Relies On False And Unsubstantiated Claims |date=February 5, 2021 |work=Lead Stories |first=Dana |last=Ford |access-date=August 8, 2021 }} Mainstream news outlets such as The New York Times disputed its claims as well.

Lindell's staff confirmed in August 2021 that the data shown in the film was given to Lindell by Dennis L. Montgomery, a software designer with a documented history of fraud.{{cite news|url=https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/mike-lindell-s-unfortunate-week-gets-quite-bit-worse-n1276743|title=Mike Lindell's unfortunate week gets quite a bit worse|first=Steve|last=Benen |author-link=Steve Benen|date=August 13, 2021|work=MSNBC}}

In April 2021, Absolute Proof received two Golden Raspberry Awards, which parody traditional awards by honoring a year's worst films.{{cite news |url=https://deadline.com/2021/04/razzie-awards-names-absolute-proof-worst-picture-1234742959/ |title=41st Annual Razzie Awards Names Pillow Guy's 'Absolute Proof' As Best Of The Worst |date=April 24, 2021 |work=Deadline |first=Bruce |last=Haring |access-date=August 6, 2021 }}

In the months following the release of the film in February 2021, Lindell released Scientific Proof, an hour-long interview with Douglas G. Frank; Absolute Interference, a two-hour-long documentary starring Michael Flynn, which The Dispatch fact check says "recycles many familiar voter fraud claims that lack evidence";{{cite news |url=https://factcheck.thedispatch.com/p/fact-checking-mike-lindells-absolute |title=Fact Checking Mike Lindell's 'Absolute Interference' Video |date=May 10, 2021 |work=The Dispatch |first=Khaya |last=Himmelman |access-date=August 10, 2021 }} and Absolutely 9-0, a 26-minute-long interview with an anonymous "white hat hacker" who purported to show packet captures from voting machines used in the 2020 election.{{Cite web |last=Griffin |first=Casey Tolan,Curt Devine,Drew |date=2021-08-06 |title=MyPillow magnate Mike Lindell’s latest election conspiracy theory is his most bizarre yet |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2021/08/05/politics/mike-lindell-mypillow-ceo-election-claims-invs/index.html |access-date=2024-11-12 |website=CNN |language=en}} In reality, the data presented was a hex-encoded version of publicly available voter registration data from Pennsylvania.{{Cite news|title=Analysis {{!}} Mike Lindell's 'fraud' allegations are even more ridiculous than you might think|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/06/04/mike-lindells-fraud-allegations-are-even-more-ridiculous-than-you-might-think/|access-date=2021-10-25|issn=0190-8286}} In November 2021 Lindell also interviewed Trump himself at Mar-a-Lago which was later broadcast on Right Side Broadcasting Network during which Trump expressed support for Lindell's idea to melt down Dominion voting machines to turn them into prison bars.{{Cite web |last=Teh |first=Cheryl |title=Trump said Mike Lindell's idea to melt down Dominion voting machines and turn them into prison bars was 'very good' during a rollicking 40-minute interview about election-fraud conspiracy theories |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-mike-lindell-interview-good-idea-dominion-machines-prison-bars-2021-11 |access-date=2025-04-06 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2021-11-17 |title=Trump tells Mike Lindell melting voting machines is ‘very good idea’ |url=https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-mike-lindell-election-voting-b1959571.html |access-date=2025-04-06 |website=The Independent |language=en}}

On August 10, 11, and 12, 2021, Lindell hosted a "cyber symposium" in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which he promised would produce "irrefutable evidence" for his claims that the election had been stolen by foreign hackers. However, the cyber expert he had hired to analyze his evidence said he could not confirm that claim.{{cite news|url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/shocker-mike-lindell-s-own-cyber-expert-announces-his-election-fraud-conspiracies-are-baseless/ar-AANf2vZ?li=BB141NW3|title=SHOCKER! Mike Lindell's Own Cyber Expert Announces His Election Fraud Conspiracies Are Baseless|last=Meyer|first=Ken|date=August 12, 2021|work=Mediaite|publisher=MSN|access-date=15 August 2021}} Lindell promised to make the purported packet captures available to attendees and offered a $5 million "bounty" to any attendee who could prove that they did not originate from the 2020 election.{{Cite web|last=Towey|first=Grace Dean, Hannah|title=Mike Lindell is offering $5 million to anyone who can disprove his allegations of voter fraud — if they show up to his cyber symposium|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/my-pillow-mike-lindell-offers-5-million-disprove-voter-fraud-2021-7|access-date=2021-10-25|website=Business Insider|language=en-US}} Just as the symposium was about to start on August 10, Lindell's website, LindellTV, was inoperative for about an hour – a problem Lindell says, without providing proof, was the result of a hack.{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/mike-lindell-hack-my-pillow-b1900160.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210810150900/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/mike-lindell-hack-my-pillow-b1900160.html |archive-date=2021-08-10 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |title=My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell delays start of 'cyber symposium' claiming he has been hacked |date=August 10, 2021 |work=The Independent |first=Gustaf |last=Kilander |access-date=August 11, 2021 }} Lindell had predicted that because of the irrefutable evidence his symposium would reveal, Trump would be recognized as the true winner of the 2020 election and reinstated as president on August 13, the day after his symposium ended. When that did not occur, he moved the predicted date of Trump's reinstatement to September 13, which also did not result in Trump being reinstated.{{cite news|url=https://www.denverpost.com/2021/08/19/mesa-county-clerk-tina-peters-election-fraud-mike-lindell/|title=Kafer: Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters drank the snake oil peddled by Mike Lindell|last=Kafer|first=Krista|date=August 19, 2021|work=Denver Post|access-date=20 August 2021}} The packet captures were never presented at the symposium and one attendee described Lindell's supposed evidence as "random garbage that wastes our time". Renowned election cybersecurity expert Harri Hursti, who attended the symposium, characterized the data presented as "a big fat nothing and a distraction".{{Cite web|last=Dean|first=Zahra Tayeb, Grace|title=Mike Lindell said his cyber symposium would prove voter fraud. One cyber expert said it was just full of 'random garbage that wastes our time.'|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/mike-lindell-cyber-symposium-voter-fraud-election-expert-south-dakota-2021-8|access-date=2021-10-25|website=Business Insider|language=en-US}} In April 2023, an arbitration panel unanimously awarded the $5 million "bounty" to cybersecurity expert Robert Zeidman, agreeing with Zeidman's assertion that Lindell had not produced any valid data from the 2020 election.{{Cite news |last=Vigdor |first=Neil |date=2023-04-20 |title='Prove Mike Wrong' for $5 Million, Lindell Pitched. Now He's Told to Pay Up. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/20/us/politics/mike-lindell-arbitration-case-5-million.html |access-date=2023-08-25 |issn=0362-4331}} Lindell subsequently refused to pay, resulting in Zeidman suing Lindell in an attempt to recover the award.{{Cite web |last=Murray |first=Sara |date=2023-05-19 |title=Cyber expert awarded $5 million from Mike Lindell asks court to compel MyPillow CEO to pay up {{!}} CNN Politics |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/19/politics/mike-lindell-cyber-expert-lawsuit/index.html |access-date=2023-08-25 |website=CNN |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2023-05-19 |title=Winner of Mike Lindell's $5M contest never got his money. Now he's taking Lindell to court. - CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mike-lindell-5-million-contest-winner-federal-court/ |access-date=2023-08-25 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}

{{reflist}}

• {{IMDb title | 13989524 | Absolute Proof }}
• [https://mubi.com/films/absolute-proof Absolute Proof] on MUBI
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj98O2dq7hk Absolute Proof] on YouTube

{{Navboxes

|title = Awards for Absolute Proof

|list =

{{Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Picture}}

{{Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor}}

}}

Category:2021 films

Category:Films about the 2020 United States presidential election

Category:Conspiracy theories in the United States

Category:Conspiracist films

Category:Golden Raspberry Award–winning films

Category:Conspiracy theories promoted by Donald Trump

Category:Conspiracy theories regarding Joe Biden

Category:2021 documentary films

Category:American documentary films about politics

Category:Mike Lindell

Category:Propaganda in the United States

Category:2020s English-language films

Category:2020s American films

Category:English-language documentary films

Category:Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election