A meeting that had been planned for Tuesday night where the Trumbull county Republican party planned to vote on a move to remove former Trumbull county commissioner Niki Frenchko from her position as auxiliary chair was canceled before it ever happened. 

The meeting had been called by Trumbull GOP chair Julia Shutt over four alleged violations of party bylaws, including one that led to a threat of a lawsuit. 

In a letter circulated to GOP members, Shutt accused Frenchko of: 

"1. Openly and publicly supporting a Democratic candidate against a Republican candidate in the same race.
2. Absence at central, executive, and officers board meetings (for the past 3 months) after being notified of these meetings,
with no correspondence to the party regarding your absence, which reflects failure to perform duties as required in our
bylaws.
3. Assaulting a fellow officer at an Officers meeting with four eyewitnesses present.
4. Openly and publicly making derogatory remarks about the Trumbull County Republican Party, its officers, and members."

The assault allegation in particular, which was also repeated in party meetings, led to Frenchko's attorney, David Betras, sending a letter to the party threatening to sue for libel and slander, saying, "If you have the funds to defend a winning lawsuit, well, we could do that. I have a license to sue, and I am willing to use it. " 

The allegation, which was presented without evidence, stems from a 

February incident in which party chair Julia Shutt and party secretary Marleah Campbell accused Frenchko of throwing lemons at Campbell and filed a police report over the matter.

However, after being investigated, no charges were ever filed and body camera video shows Shutt explaining that she wants Frenchko removed from her position as auxiliary chair and this type of documentation will help her accomplish that goal.

"I don't feel safe and based on that, I can't allow her to be part of these meetings. I can't remove her as auxiliary chair, that has to be done through a central committee, which are elected officials, but as far as that goes, what we're doing here with you and whatever Marleah decides to do, these are documented evidence of this and our path moving forward is to remove her," Shutt can be heard on the body camera telling Howland police.

Campbell had been pursuing a civil protection order against Frenchko over the incident, but later dropped the matter on the same day the letter was sent seeking Frenchko's removal.

Frenchko also disputes the other allegations in the letter asking for her to step down, saying the reason she had missed meetings is because Shutt had removed her from a group chat and said they scheduled meetings at a time when they knew Frenchko was out of the country and unable to attend. She had been on the party's recruitment committee, where she said she had recruited 12 people into the party, gathered signatures and created a questionnaire for candidates and committee applicants, but was removed from that committee via email on Feb. 7.

As for the allegation that she'd supported a Democrat in a race where there was a Republican running, she said she is not aware of what they are referring to and would need to provide further information, but also points out that other members openly supported Dan Polivka against her when she first ran for commissioner.

"I'm not loyal to factions or groups. I'm loyal to principals and doing what's right," Frenchko said, adding "You don't get to lie and say people are criminals just for political jockeying," Frenchko told 21 News at the time the letter was sent. 

The dispute at the time of the lemon-throwing allegation began over Frenchko pointing out that the party's nomination to the Trumbull County Board of Elections had been done improperly against party bylaws. 

Robert Carr was originally nominated for the post, but his nomination was submitted by someone who was not a member of the party's executive committee, making the vote incorrect, Frenchko argued, saying that unless the bylaws specifically said nominations could be submitted by anyone, they would defer to Robert's Rules of Order, the standard manual for parliamentary procedure. 

In a text exchange supplied to 21 News from Frenchko at the time , Frenchko explained to party members, including chair Julia Shutt, but was shut down, with one member saying "Wrong. Please stop. You don't need to analyze everything we do. Please stop." 

Party chair Julia Shutt replied, saying "Optics are important. Let's take some deep breaths here. This board has a lot of experience and there were also a room full of aware GOP members that know the bylaws. The solution here is to select a parliamentarian for future meetings that we are confident with. Niki, I hear what you're saying. This is an opportunity for you to work with the team consensus. My job is to look at the big picture and lead us. Let's learn from this mishap and move forward without a redo." 

Frenchko responded saying "Head in the sand approach is shameful. If optics are important and your effort is to promote brand, you correct mistakes. And show a version of the party nobody has ever seen--taking corrective action and extreme efforts to promote transparency and compliance."

When 21 News reached Julia Shutt to ask what the reason for canceling the vote was and whether it was an indication she did not have enough support lined up within the party to remove Frenchko, Shutt did not directly answer, pointing instead to some members not being able to make the meeting. 

 "I just believe that we should all try to get along and unite not fight," Shutt said.