Former RI Trump campaign chair sues state Republican Party for retaliation. Here's why.

PROVIDENCE – Developer and former chair of Donald Trump's Rhode Island re-election campaign Gerald P. Zarrella has filed a lawsuit in state court accusing the Rhode Island GOP – and its small cadre of leaders – of cooking up an ethics complaint in retaliation for his decision to leave the party.

The lawsuit centers on an ethics complaint that state GOP Chairman Joseph Powers filed in May against House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi that, Zarrella says, is packed with "false and misleading information" about what he [Zarrella] personally stood to gain from unsuccessful legislation to allow weddings and other events on farms back in 2017.

Powers argued that the proposed changes to Rhode Island's "Right to Farm" law – which died in the Senate after passing the House – would have benefited Zarrella, a client of Shekarchi's law practice. Shekarchi was the House majority leader at the time.

While the ethics complaint names Shekarchi, Zarrella alleges state GOP leaders were, in fact, retaliating against him for leaving the state Republican Party.

Representatives for the state's Republican Party have not yet responded to a request for comment.

Zarella says he continues to suffer emotional distress, pain and physical suffering

Zarrella's lawsuit names as defendants the state Republican Party, Powers, the state GOP's National Committeeman Steve Frias, their National Committeewoman Sue Cienki and the party's executive director, Jesus Solorio.

Zarrella claims he "has suffered and continues to suffer great emotional distress, pain and physical suffering as a result of the conduct" of the state GOP leaders, specifically the "false and misleading statements" they made about him and his relationship with Shekarchi.

He is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages from them for the "intentional infliction of emotional distress," attorney fees and reimbursement for all other costs related to his lawsuit.

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Zarella contends the GOP's claims in their ethics complaint are 'misleading'

The facts, according to Zarrella: he was a member of the Rhode Island Republican Party through Nov. 17, 2022, when he cut ties with the party over "differences of opinions with the leadership ... regarding party policy and direction" that led to animosity between him and GOP party leaders.

The impetus for his lawsuit is the May 30, 2023 ethics complaint filed by Powers, "with the assistance and collaboration" of Frias that alleges Shekarchi violated the state Ethics Code when he supported a "Right to Farm Act" that would have overridden zoning rules that prohibited farms of 15 acres or more from hosting up to weddings a year, in exchange for a fee.

According to Zarrella, "The false and misleading facts were" the state GOP's contention that:

"'This legislation if enacted would have uniquely financially benefited [Zarrella] ... [who] at the time this legislation was being considered by the General Assembly, including when it passed the Rhode Island House of Representatives on June 27, 2017... had a case on appeal before the R.I. Supreme Court over Zarrella’s ability to host weddings on his 32 acre farm.”

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Also untrue, according to Zarrella, is the claim that at the time of the vote on the Amendment to the Right to Farm Act, he was in the middle of a long-running legal dispute with the Town of Exeter.

In his lawsuit, Zarrella said: he "was at no time a legal client ...[or] business associate of K. Joseph Shekarchi," would not have received any financial gain from the proposed amendment to the Right to Farm Act, and did not have a case pending before the Rhode Island Supreme Court when the legislation was being considered.

"At no time did Plaintiff Zarrella own a 32 acre farm."

He said Powers and Frias "knew or should have known that The Gerald P. Zarrella Trust is the owner of property located at 1 Gerald’s Farm Drive in Exeter... [that] was involved in litigation with the Town of Exeter," and that Gerald’s Farm, LLC ... operates the farm."

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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Former Donald Trump campaign chair in RI is suing the state's GOP