Rep. Robert Garcia is seeking communications between Taylor Farms and the White House after the company donated more than $2 million to Republican PACs in 2025
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Rep. Robert Garcia, the ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a letter to Taylor Farms CEO Bruce Taylor earlier this week demanding answers about the company's role in a national cyclospora outbreak and whether its political donations and White House access were used to interfere with the FDA's investigation into contaminated lettuce.
"Taylor Farms donated millions to President Trump, met privately with the White House the night the FDA identified their lettuce as the source of this outbreak, and then reportedly tried to distance themselves from this outbreak," Representative Robert Garcia said in a statement. "Thousands of Americans became sick. Trust in our public health system is on the line."
Taylor Farms contributed $1 million to Trump's super PAC, MAGA Inc., in 2025, according to CBS News, citing Federal Election Commission filings. Bloomberg reported the company donated more than $2 million in total to political action committees tied to Trump and other Republicans that year, according to Bloomberg.
Representative Garcia's letter requests all communications Taylor Farms has had with the FDA, CDC, USDA, and the White House related to the outbreak, as well as documents related to the company's food safety protocols.
The White House pushed back on the allegations. "Any notion that the White House or Trump administration would ever compromise on the health and safety of the American people is absolutely false," White House spokesman Kush Desai said. Desai also said the FDA "is conducting a thorough and evidence-based outbreak investigation" and has not walked back its epidemiological findings pointing to Taylor Farms de Mexico.
A Taylor Farms spokesperson declined to address Representative Garcia's letter but told CBS News that "the safety of our food is paramount," adding that the FDA had recorded no confirmed positive cyclospora test results as of July 24.
The CDC reported Friday that the outbreak has been tied to nearly 2,000 confirmed cases in nine states, while health departments in 41 states have logged thousands of additional infections, according to Bloomberg. The FDA linked the outbreak to iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell locations in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia and identified Taylor Farms de Mexico as the supplier. Taylor Farms subsequently recalled iceberg lettuce distributed across 27 states.
Adding to the complexity, the FDA at one point reported that a Taylor Farms lettuce sample had tested positive for cyclospora, only to subsequently walk back that result and classify it as a false positive. The voluntary recall remains in effect.
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