A California congressman who is the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee is now investigating donations made by Taylor Farms CEO Bruce Taylor and a possible attempt to influence the FDA's handling of the recent cyclospora outbreak tied to his company's lettuce.

Much of the country heard last week that Salinas-based Taylor Farms' CEO Bruce Taylor had been a big Trump donor, donating $1 million to a Trump super PAC in 2025. That donation that took place "less than one week after the Trump Administration agreed to delay implementation of a critical food safety rule that would make it easier to trace contaminated produce back to suppliers and remove it from the food supply," as Congressman Robert Garcia of California said in a letter to Taylor sent Monday.

There has also been reporting by Slate that Taylor Farms executives met privately with FDA officials and the White House on the evening of July 16, hoping to "to distance the company from the outbreak and cast doubt on the officials’ conclusion."

This was the same day that the FDA had publicly identified Taylor Farms de Mexico, the company's processing facility, as the main source of the contaminated iceberg lettuce that had been supplied to Taco Bell and other clients, leading to the cyclospora outbreak. Days later, following a voluntary, 27-state recall of the lettuce, Taylor Farms posted to social media that the FDA had "apologized" to them over one false-positive test — a result that experts say is common in parasite testing — trying to downplay their connection to the outbreak.

"This timeline of events raises concerns that your company may have attempted to leverage political donations and connections inside the Trump Administration to influence the scope, scale, and findings of FDA’s investigation," Representative Garcia writes. "Further, your company’s series of contradictory and confusing statements appear to be deliberately worded to make customers think recalled products are safe."

"As one of the country’s largest producers of leafy greens and fresh vegetables that supplies $7 billion worth of products to grocery stores and restaurants, Taylor Farms has an obligation to do all in its power to protect customers," Garcia continues. "Customers, in turn, should be able to trust that FDA’s critical work keeping us safe from foodborne illness is not unduly influenced by a company’s attempts to interfere with findings that affect our collective public health."

The letter then lays out a number of requests for documents from the company, including any and all internal communications related to cyclospora or cyclosporiasis, between May 1, 2026 and the present; and all communications between Taylor Farms, and/or its CEO Bruce Taylor, and the White House between January 1, 2025 and the present.

The House Oversight Committee, as part of its investigation, is also seeking to learn how Taylor Farms determined which products should be part of the recall it initiated on July 17.

"Thousands of Americans became sick. Trust in our public health system is on the line," Garcia said in a statement to CBS News. "The American people deserve to know Taylor Farms' full role in this outbreak, and we're demanding answers."

White House spokesperson Kush Desai issued a statement to CBS saying, "Any notion that the White House or Trump administration would ever compromise on the health and safety of the American people is absolutely false."

Desai added, "The FDA is conducting a thorough and evidence-based outbreak investigation, and has never 'walked back' anything regarding the overwhelming epidemiological evidence pointing to a shipment of shredded lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico."

Taylor Farms also issued a statement continuing to insist that the FDA has shown no positive tests for cyclospora in its products, and adding, "the safety of our food is paramount."

We'll see how Taylor Farms, and the White House, handle the congressional investigation.

Previously: Cyclospora Outbreak In Midwest Linked to Lettuce From Monterey County Supplier

Top image: Trucks rest at a Taylor Farms facility on July 17, 2026 in Salinas, California. Taylor Farms, a global fresh produce supplier, is allegedly connected to the recent cyclosporiasis outbreak. (Photo by Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images)