The U.S. law enforcement agencies say they expect to submit their findings by July 31, despite a previous court-ordered deadline of May 2.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have jointly requested a 90-day extension to complete their search for investigative records relating to Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The U.S. law enforcement agencies say they expect to submit their findings by July 31, despite a previous court-ordered deadline of May 2.
The request follows a Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) lawsuit filed by U.S. citizen and transparency advocate Aaron Greenspan.
He is seeking documents connected to an alleged 1990s drug investigation in which President Tinubu was reportedly implicated.
In a ruling on April 8, Judge Beryl Howell of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed the agencies’ attempt to invoke a “Glomar response,” a legal strategy that would have allowed them to neither confirm nor deny the existence of relevant records.Â
The judge found the argument for nondisclosure unconvincing and ordered the agencies to proceed with the search.
Greenspan, however, has objected to the 90-day extension, proposing instead that the agencies be given no more than 14 additional days to comply with the court’s order.
Despite the objection, a joint status report filed by U.S. Attorney Edward Martin Jr. and Assistant Attorney M. Jared Littman confirms the agencies have begun their search and estimate it will take three more months to locate and review all responsive, non-exempt records.
The statement read, “Based on the years-long delay already caused by defendants, and the fact that many responsive documents have already been identified, plaintiff proposes that the FBI and DEA complete their searches and productions by next week, or at least that the FBI and DEA produce unredacted versions of already-identified documents by next week, and the remainder of production in 14 days.
“Defendants provide no rationale whatsoever as to why their search for documents should take 90 days.
“Plaintiff intends to request his costs (the filing fee of $402.00 and $38.22 for Certified Mail postage, for a total of $440.22).
“Defendants propose that the parties submit a joint status report on or before July 31, 2025, to apprise the court as to the status of the case following the agencies’ search for responsive, non-exempt, reasonably segregable portions of records requested by plaintiff.
“Plaintiff proposes that they submit a joint status report on or before May 31, 2025.”
