A United States federal court has rejected a request by Aaron Greenspan seeking permission to obtain limited discovery from President Bola Tinubu and lobbying firm DCI Group in an ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit.
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia ruled on October 30 that the proposed discovery was not sufficiently connected to the central issues in the case, which concerns records sought from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
The development was disclosed on Saturday in a statement by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
Greenspan had sought discovery relating to alleged cyberattacks on his website. However, the court held that the issue did not have enough relevance to the FOIA dispute to justify the request.
Reacting to the decision, attorney Christopher W. Carmichael said the ruling had clarified the limits of what could be pursued in the case.
“The Court’s decision makes clear that this Freedom of Information Act proceeding cannot be used to pursue discovery unrelated to the legal questions before it,” he said.
“By denying the request for discovery against President Tinubu and DCI Group, the Court reinforced the importance of keeping this litigation focused on the issues properly before it.”
The court also dismissed a separate application by Karl Von Batten, who was not a party to the case, seeking permission to submit an amicus curiae brief, commonly referred to as a friend-of-the-court submission.
Greenspan’s related request for judicial notice was also rejected. In addition, the court denied his motion for summary judgment.
Commenting on the other decisions, attorney Oluwole Afolabi said the rulings had established procedural limits for the ongoing litigation.
“The Court also denied the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment and rejected a separate request to introduce an amicus brief,” Afolabi said.
“While the underlying FOIA issues remain before the Court, these rulings establish important procedural boundaries and clarify which matters are appropriate for consideration in this litigation.”
Despite the latest decisions, the underlying FOIA dispute involving the FBI and DEA remains before the court.
