FBI and DEA request 90-day extension to produce investigation reports regarding an alleged drug case involving President Bola Tinubu in the 1990s.
The United States Court for the District of Columbia was notified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on Thursday May 1st that they required an additional 90 days to produce investigation reports regarding an alleged drug case involving President Bola Tinubu in the 1990s.
In a Joint Status Report submitted to the court, the two US federal agencies, in conjunction with the appellant in the case, Aaron Greenspan, made the request.
The proposal was, however, rejected by Greenspan, an American, who instead proposed a 14-day extension for the FBI and DEA to furnish the records.
Greenspan filed FOIA petitions, and the District Court, presided over by Judge Beryl Howell, had earlier ordered the agencies to find and review non-exempt materials pertaining to these requests by April 8, 2025, with a report due on May 2, 2025. In the years 2022 and 2023, PlainSite’s creator, Greenspan, sought information about a Chicago narcotics network that had operated in the early 1990s through twelve Freedom of Information Act requests.
He requested records on Tinubu, Lee Andrew Edwards, Mueez Abegboyega Akande, and Abiodun Agbele. The FBI and DEA had previously issued Glomar answers, refusing to confirm or deny the requested documents, but the court decided that these were inappropriate.
The FBI and DEA indicated in the Joint Status Report dated May 1, 2025, that they had began searching for responsive, non-exempt, reasonably segregable portions of the plaintiff’s documents and expected to finish within 90 days.
Greenspan requested that agencies produce unredacted versions of already-identified papers by next week and the rest within 14 days. He also claimed the defendants failed to justify the 90-day document search. Greenspan and defendant lawyers Edwards Martin, Jr. and Jared Litman signed the report.
It 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.
“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.
“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 312025 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.”