A Washington-based lobbying firm has claimed that a US federal judge may privately examine Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) documents connected to a long-running request for records relating to President Bola Tinubu.
Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C. said Judge Beryl Howell of the US District Court for the District of Columbia had granted the FBI permission to submit the documents for private court review.
The firm made the claim in a post on X. However, the alleged order had not been published on the court docket as of the time of the update.
The claim has therefore not been independently confirmed through a court filing.
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If the court has granted the request, Judge Howell would examine the disputed documents away from public view before deciding whether any of them should be released under the US Freedom of Information Act.
The case arose from FOIA requests filed by American Aaron Greenspan between 2022 and 2023. He asked the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service and other agencies for records connected with a 1990s Chicago heroin-trafficking investigation.
August 28 deadline claimed
Von Batten-Montague-York also claimed that the FBI, DEA, Department of Justice and President Tinubu had been given until August 28, 2026 to oppose the release of the records.
The firm said the court used the words “and no later” in setting the date.
It interpreted the wording as a sign that the judge was no longer willing to allow further delay in the case.
The firm further claimed that the FBI had acknowledged holding highly sensitive information connected with drug trafficking and that private court review was being sought to protect sources.
That claim has also not been independently confirmed through a court filing in the material provided.
The lobbying firm also made political claims about the handling of the case under the administrations of former President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump. Those claims were presented by the firm and were not established by the court information provided.
It further repeated an allegation that Tinubu had acted as an informant in exchange for immunity. No US court has found that he was an informant, and the FBI and DOJ have not confirmed the allegation.
Earlier ruling
Judge Howell had previously ruled on part of the dispute in April 2025.
At the time, she rejected the FBI and DEA’s use of a “Glomar response”, under which the agencies neither confirmed nor denied that they held the requested records.
The judge ruled that position was “neither logical nor plausible” after the agencies had already officially confirmed investigations relating to Tinubu.
She directed the agencies to release documents that were not protected from disclosure and held that the public interest outweighed the privacy interests involved.
The case is connected with a 1993 civil forfeiture in which $460,000 linked to Tinubu was forfeited to the US government.
Tinubu was not criminally charged in the matter and has consistently maintained that it was a civil settlement.
The FBI, DEA and DOJ had previously sought more time to gather and examine records covered by the FOIA requests.
President Tinubu’s US legal counsel had not publicly commented on the lobbying firm’s latest claim.
Public filings also show that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar hired Von Batten-Montague-York in March 2026 to help protect and improve his reputational standing in the United States.
For now, the reported private review remains an allegation by the lobbying firm until the claimed court action appears in an official filing or is otherwise confirmed.
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