In a joint status report filed with the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday, the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration asked the court for a 90-day extension to produce documents related to an alleged drug investigation involving President Bola Tinubu that dates back to the 1990s.
The case is the result of multiple Freedom of Information Act requests made by Aaron Greenspan, an American legal transparency advocate and the founder of the platform PlainSite, who is requesting the release of records linked to a Chicago-based drug ring and has named Tinubu along with three other people: Lee Andrew Edwards, Mueez Abegboyega Akande, and Abiodun Agbele.
Judge Beryl Howell presided over the court, which had previously mandated that the DEA and FBI submit a progress report on the search and distribution of non-exempt records by May 2, 2025.
Both agencies, however, stated in the most recent submission that they required further time to finish their searches.
The report reads, “Aaron Greenspan (“Plaintiff”) and Defendants Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the only remaining defendants in this case, respectfully submit the following joint status report proposing a schedule to govern further proceedings, pursuant to the Court’s Order of April 8, 2025 (ECF No. 47).
“Pursuant to the court’s order, the defendants, FBI and DEA must search for and produce non-exempt records responsive to the plaintiff’s FOIA requests (FBI Requests Nos. 1588244-000 and 1593615- 000, and DEA Request Nos. 22-00892-F and 24-00201-F).
“The FBI and DEA have initiated their searches for responsive, non-exempt, reasonably segregable portions of records requested by the plaintiff and anticipate completing their searches in ninety days.”
Greenspan resisted the postponement, claiming that certain records had already been located and that the agencies had already postponed the procedure for years.
He suggested a considerably shorter timeframe.
“Given the years-long delay already caused by the defendants and the fact that many responsive documents have already been identified, the plaintiff proposes that the FBI and DEA complete their searches and productions by next week, or, at the very least, produce unredacted versions of the already-identified documents by next week, with the remainder completed in 14 days. The defendants provide no rationale for why their search for documents should take 90 days.
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“The FBI and DEA have initiated their searches for responsive, non-exempt, reasonably segregable portions of records requested by the plaintiff and anticipate completing their searches in ninety days,” Greenspan said.
Records from several federal departments were requested in the FOIA requests, which were submitted between 2022 and 2023.
In their first “Glomar responses,” the FBI and DEA did not affirm or refute the existence of pertinent documents.
The agencies were eventually ordered to proceed with full or partial disclosures, if relevant, when the court determined that this reaction was improper.
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Additionally, Greenspan is requesting $440.22 in compensation for postage and filing expenses.
When to file the next joint status report is still a point of contention between the two parties.
Greenspan asked the court to set the deadline for May 31, 2025, even though the agencies suggested July 31.
“The plaintiff intends to request reimbursement for his costs: the filing fee of $402.00 and $38.22 for certified mail postage, totalling $440.22.
“The defendants propose that the parties submit a joint status report on or before July 31, 2025 to update the Court on the case status following the agencies’ search for responsive, non-exempt, reasonably segregable records requested by the plaintiff. The plaintiff proposes that they submit a joint status report on or before May 31, 2025,” the report added.
