U.S. Court Orders FBI and DEA to Release Records on President Bola Tinubu’s Alleged Drug Trafficking Investigation
In a recent ruling, a United States District Court in Washington, D.C., has mandated the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to disclose records linked to their criminal investigation involving President Bola Tinubu and allegations of drug trafficking.
Judge Beryl Howell, whose decision was issued on April 8 and is available on the court’s website, instructed both agencies to search for and process records that are not exempt as part of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests filed by American researcher Aaron Greenspan. Greenspan, the founder of the legal transparency platform PlainSite, made 12 FOIA requests between 2022 and 2023, aimed at gathering information about a Chicago drug ring that was active in the early 1990s. His inquiries specifically sought records pertaining to Tinubu along with three other individuals: Lee Andrew Edwards, Mueez Abegboyega Akande, and Abiodun Agbele.
Previously, the FBI and DEA had issued “Glomar responses,” which imply a refusal to confirm or deny the existence of the requested records. However, the judge determined that such responses were inappropriate in this situation. Consequently, both agencies have been ordered to undertake a search and release records that do not meet exemption criteria.
In her ruling, Judge Howell noted that both the FBI and DEA had confirmed investigations into Tinubu concerning the drug trafficking operation. The court asserted that any privacy concerns associated with the FOIA requests regarding Tinubu are outweighed by the public’s interest in accessing this information. The agencies failed to demonstrate valid reasons to maintain the confidentiality of the fact that Tinubu was under investigation.
The ruling also stated, “The FBI and DEA have not provided any information sufficient to justify their Glomar responses or to justify continued secrecy regarding the existence of an investigation into Tinubu.” In contrast, the court upheld a similar Glomar response from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) after Greenspan acknowledged that the agency had verified the existence of responsive records.
The judge concluded that Greenspan is entitled to summary judgment concerning the four Glomar responses issued by the FBI and DEA, while the CIA’s Glomar response stands as it was rightly asserted. Therefore, the FBI and DEA are required to find and process any non-exempt records in response to the outstanding FOIA requests, while the CIA receives a favorable judgment in this matter.
Both parties have been instructed to jointly submit a status report on any remaining issues by May 2, 2025, as outlined in the court’s order.
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