U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell has set August 21, 2026, as the deadline for remaining defendants and an intervenor to file responses in a long-running Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case involving records linked to allegations concerning President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The case, Greenspan v. Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys et al., is pending before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, where plaintiff Aaron Greenspan is seeking records from U.S. agencies including the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Court Sets New Filing Deadline
Judge Howell issued a minute order on August 14 granting part of a request by the FBI and DEA for additional time to file their responses.
The agencies had sought more time to file a cross-motion for summary judgment and respond to Greenspan’s own summary judgment motion. Tinubu, who is an intervenor in the case, joined the request.
The judge allowed the defendants and intervenor until August 21 to file their opposition and any cross-motion by the defendants, noting that the case had already been pending for more than three years. Further deadlines were set for September 4 and September 18.
Deadline Does Not Order Immediate Release
The August 21 deadline relates to legal filings on the summary judgment motions. It does not amount to a court order requiring the FBI or DEA to publicly release all the requested records on that date.
The litigation has involved disputes over the agencies’ handling of the records, including production of non-exempt documents, exemptions and earlier “Glomar” responses in which agencies declined to confirm or deny whether certain records existed.
An April 2025 ruling directed the FBI and DEA to search for and process responsive non-exempt records after the court found some of the agencies’ Glomar responses improper.
Records Date Back to 1990s Case
Greenspan’s FOIA request concerns purported federal investigations from the late 1980s and early 1990s connected to a Chicago-area heroin trafficking and money-laundering network.
The underlying records relate to a 1990s civil forfeiture case in the Northern District of Illinois involving funds allegedly connected to a heroin distribution organisation. Public court documents from that period referenced Tinubu in connection with certain bank accounts, with about $460,000 eventually forfeited.
Tinubu was not criminally charged in the case and has repeatedly denied wrongdoing or involvement in drug trafficking.
Online Claims Over August 21 Deadline
The latest development has generated renewed attention in Nigeria after posts by the Washington, D.C.-based law firm Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C. were amplified by Nigerian media outlets.
Some reports and social media posts have framed the development as a court-ordered deadline for the release of “Tinubu drug-trafficking records.” However, the recent docket entry sets a deadline for legal responses, not the immediate publication of the full records.
The FOIA litigation remains active, with further proceedings expected as the court continues to oversee the processing and disclosure of any records that are not legally exempt.
