President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has asked a United States federal court to reject an attempt to obtain additional unredacted records held by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Drug Enforcement Administration.
His lawyers made the request in an amended response filed before the US District Court for the District of Columbia in Aaron Greenspan v. Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys et al., Civil Action No. 23-1816 (BAH).
Tinubu’s legal team argues that portions already withheld or redacted are protected under privacy provisions of the US Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act. Greenspan, an American transparency activist, is challenging the agencies’ handling of his requests for historical government records concerning Tinubu and others. Chronicles Reporters
The litigation follows an earlier ruling preventing the FBI and DEA from simply refusing to confirm or deny the existence of responsive records. The present question is different: whether particular information within the records may lawfully remain concealed under statutory exemptions.
Tinubu’s lawyers argue that FOIA was designed to illuminate government activity rather than expose private information simply because it is contained in government files. Tinubu has repeatedly denied criminal wrongdoing.
Importantly, the current proceeding is a civil records-disclosure case. It is not a criminal prosecution of Tinubu, nor has the court made a finding of criminal guilt against him.
RELATED: FBI Filing Revives Tinubu Drug Probe Debate
SOURCE: Chronicles Reporters — Tinubu Seeks to Block Further FBI, DEA Disclosure
