Joey Gilbert sanctioned ¼ million dollars for frivolous lawsuit

Joey Gilbert, the attorney with no health care experience attempting to commandeer America’s Frontline Doctors (AFLDS), was recently sanctioned by a Nevada judge for filing what the judge called “a frivolous action that warrants sanctions.”

Failed campaign

Attorney Joey Gilbert lost a Republican primary for governor of Nevada by more than eleven percentage points this past June to Sheriff Joe Lombardo, who went on to win the governor’s race against the Democrat incumbent.

Recount, but I’m not paying

Many states provide for automatic recounts, at the state’s expense, for election races won by less than one half of a percentage point. Losing by close to twelve points meant that the taxpayers would not have to fund the cost of having every county in the state perform a recount. 

Despite the wide margin of victory and notwithstanding Gilbert himself declaring that, “he did not expect the results to change much” in a recount, Gilbert requested a county by county estimate of the recount cost. Undeterred by the state’s response that it would cost $190,960 in total, Gilbert sought the support of donors for his recount effort. Without putting any of his own money into the longshot effort, Gilbert succeeded in funding the entire recount cost with private donations that had been made to the constitutionalist Franklin Project PAC.

Failed recount

As expected by Gilbert himself, the recount failed. 

the outcome did not appear to change in the state's two most populous counties … Clark and Washoe counties confirmed that Lombardo had beaten Gilbert, who paid for the recount despite trailing Lombardo by 11 percentage points following the June 14 vote. Clark and Washoe counties account for 75% of the ballots cast.” 

Failed lawsuit

Undaunted by the failure of the recount, Gilbert filed a lawsuit against Sheriff Lombardo and other officials contesting the results. His petition, acknowledged the accuracy of the count, but still claimed to have won: 

Mr. Gilbert accepts the votes as counted. However, he will prove that the results as announced is a mathematical impossibility.

Gilbert claimed that this “mathematical impossibility” occurred because,

an ‘illegal geometric formula’ was used to alter the way votes were counted.

Gilbert alleged to have retained an expert to prove his ‘illegal geometric formula’ theory, but that expert turned out not to have expertise in that area and was found by the court to be “unqualified” to offer an opinion. A second expert retained by Gilbert admitted in a deposition to not having sufficient information to prove Gilbert’s claims.

he has “no idea” what the correct vote share is, did not perform any work related to the restoration of the actual vote share, and does not “know how to do it, to be honest.”

The judge found a “clear absence” of evidence supporting Gilbert’s claims and went on to dismiss the case with prejudice, blocking Gilbert from refiling it with different experts.

Who will pay?

Sheriff Lombardo then asked the court to sanction Gilbert for causing him and his co-defendants to pay legal costs and fees to defend against the lawsuit and the judge agreed, forcing Gilbert to pay Sheriff Lombardo nearly $88,000 in costs.

Gilbert’s lawsuit … was “a frivolous action that warrants sanctions…” The judge’s Wednesday order again highlighted the lawsuit’s lack of evidence. “But, even if his claim regarding mathematic or geometric “impossibility” was true, Mr. Gilbert still did not have any competent evidence to demonstrate that he won the 2022 Primary as would be required to prevail…” 

Gilbert was also ordered to pay Sheriff Lombardo $161,000 in attorney’s fees for defending against the frivolous suit, bringing the total sanctions against Gilbert to $249,000. 

Will the Franklin Project PAC also cover these expenses for Gilbert? 

Who’s behind the Franklin Project PAC?

Will Gilbert risk more of his supporters’ money by continuing to push this frivolous claim, after his campaign promised to do just that?

Gilbert campaign consultant Paul White said the campaign would continue to fight the results and would “move forward legally in any possible way.”

Previous corruption

Read our previous articles on Gilbert’s schemes and reprimands, including cheating in professional boxing matches, setting up a fake embezzlement claim and improperly charging legal clients:

• Putrefied Stew: Conservative media personality Stew Peters falls prey to MSM-style slapstick journalism
• Trojan horse infiltrating America's Frontline Doctors previously found guilty of cheating
• AFLDS founder again tyrannized in staged embezzlement
• Attorney attempting America's Frontline Doctors takeover faces reprimand

Also be sure to check back as we continue our series on Gilbert and try to answer the following questions:

1. What do the Nevada Rules of Professional Conduct and [ABA] Model Rules of Professional Conduct provide as sanctions for licensed attorneys found to have committed perjury?
2. Why did Gilbert try to remove the doctor who founded America’s Frontline Doctors and replace her with a board of non-doctors when the very name of the organization indicates that it is run by doctors?
3. Why is Gilbert claiming to be the Chairman of the Board of AFLDS while not developing any programming or activities for the organization?
4. Why did Gilbert draw a very large salary from AFLDS during the entire time he was running for Governor of Nevada and was absent from the organization? 
5. Who is the mysterious donor who funded Gilbert's political campaign?