{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://gianforte.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/gianforte-investigates-small-businesses-claims-abuse-harassment-federal", "Gianforte Investigates Small Businesses' Claims of Abuse, Harassment by Federal Official", "2017-09-29", "2017", "2017-09", "Republican", "House", "MT", "Greg Gianforte", "G000584", "gianforte.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 Montana Congressman Greg Gianforte had a reassuring word today for Bart Riley, the owner of Riley\u2019s Meats in Butte.\u00a0\n\u201cWe\u2019ll pursue this. We\u2019ll get to the bottom of this,\u201d Gianforte told the small business owner.\u00a0\nRiley\u2019s business, as well as others, has been the target of harassment by a supervisor for a federal agency.\nGianforte met with Riley to hear the story firsthand. He was joined by John Truzzolino, owner of Truzzolino Tamales, who claims his business was also a target of Dr. Jeffrey Legg. Legg is a front-line supervisor for the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), which is overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).\nEarlier this week Gianforte called for an investigation into the misconduct of Legg, who has allegedly been abusing his power and targeting Montana family businesses with so-called \u201cLegg\u2019s Regs.\u201d That\u2019s a term coined by some small business owners to describe Legg\u2019s costly, self-created mandates, which are not part of the federal regulatory code, but which Legg imposes on businesses at his own discretion. When business owners file complaints with the USDA, Legg retaliates against them.\n\u201cI appreciate Congressman Gianforte being here today. It\u2019s great to have someone finally listen, because it\u2019s been going on for so long,\u201d said Riley. \u201cLegg has never been held accountable to anybody. He just does what he wants. I can\u2019t keep fighting it by myself. I need to have somebody on my side.\u201d\n\u201cI\u2019ve seen it over the past 10, 12 years. It\u2019s 100 percent harassment,\u201d Truzzolino said, speaking of the actions Legg has taken against Riley\u2019s Meats. \u201cIt\u2019s gotten to the point where Bart doesn\u2019t want to come to work anymore. He wants to close his shop,\u201d said Truzzolino, who purchases product from Riley\u2019s Meats for his tamale business. \u201cBart does such a great job. He makes our lives easier.\u201d\nGainforte toured Riley\u2019s Meats and Truzzolino Tamales today in the mining city as part of his own investigation into the owners\u2019 claims.\u00a0\n\u201cThis is an example of federal overreach and abuse of power,\u201d Gianforte said. \u201cUSDA has looked into it, has admitted that harassment occurred, and yet has done nothing about it. I intend to press for answers.\u201d\n\u201cMontana\u2019s small businesses deserve better. Bart Riley, John Truzzolino, and their families deserve better,\u201d Gianforte said.\n\u201cI won't stop until this is fixed,\u201d Gianforte vowed to Riley and Truzzolino.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://gianforte.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/gianforte-investigates-small-businesses-claims-abuse-harassment-federal"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6905000191181898, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}