Current:Home > ScamsAnother aide to New York City mayor resigns amid federal probe -ProfitQuest Academy
Another aide to New York City mayor resigns amid federal probe
View
Date:2025-04-22 23:14:30
NEW YORK (AP) — Embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Monday that his deputy mayor for public safety, Philip Banks, has resigned, the latest in a string of departures from the administration as the mayor battles a federal indictment.
Adams said on TV station NY1 that Banks, his longtime friend, had told him Sunday that “he wants to transition to some other things with he life and he doesn’t want this to be a constant burden on the work that we’re doing in the city.” The mayor added, “I accepted his resignation.”
The resignation was first reported in the New York Post.
It comes one month after federal agents seized devices from top city officials including Banks as well as his brother, schools chancellor David Banks, who also announced his resignation.
Federal prosecutors have said they are pursuing “several related investigations” in addition to the case against the mayor, who was indicted late last month on charges of accepting illegal campaign contributions and bribes from foreign nationals.
Adams has pleaded not guilty to the charges and rebuffed calls to resign. But he is facing mounting pressure to clean house in his administration — including from Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat who has the power to remove him from office.
Adams pushed back Monday against the suggestion that he should step down. “I am confident when the true story gets out and not a one-sided version, New Yorkers are going to see that we can stay focused and get the job done,” he said.
In recent weeks, the New York Police Department’s commissioner, Edward Caban and one of Adams’ closest aides, Timothy Pearson, have stepped down. Their phones were also seized by federal investigators.
Prosecutors have not said why the officials’ phones were seized. No one beside Adams has been charged with a crime.
On Thursday, Adams announced that David Banks would cease running the schools system on Oct. 16, and not at the end of the calendar year as previously announced. In a statement, David Banks said he had planned to continue serving through the end of the year “to conduct a responsible transition for our staff,” but that Adams had “decided to accelerate that timeline.”
Federal agents have seized devices from both Philip and David Banks as well as a third brother, Terence Banks.
Prosecutors are also scrutinizing whether a consulting firm run by Terence Banks broke the law by leveraging his family connections to help private companies secure city contracts, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose information about the investigations.
Adams has been a friend of the Banks brothers since the 1980s when the future mayor was a young police officer and their father, Philip Banks Jr., was a law enforcement mentor.
All three Banks brothers have denied wrongdoing.
Adams appointed Philip Banks in 2022 as deputy for public safety, a role not seen in New York since the 1990s that gave him wide influence over the nation’s largest police and fire departments.
Banks had previously served as the NYPD’s highest ranking uniformed member, before resigning abruptly in 2014 after becoming ensnared in another corruption scandal that rocked City Hall.
In that case, federal investigators obtained approval to wiretap his phone amid questions about $300,000 that wound up in bank accounts belonging to him and his wife. Two businessmen were later convicted of bribing police officers and other officials. Banks was not charged but was named as an unindicted co-conspirator.
Banks said the gifts he received from the two men – including cigars, overseas travel and meals – were mistakenly omitted on disclosure forms.
In an guest essay announcing his return to public service under Adams, Banks addressed concern about the decade-old scandal, denying that he had ever traded favors as a senior NYPD official.
“I never broke the law, nor did I ever betray the public trust by abusing my authority as an NYPD official,” he wrote.
veryGood! (9)
Related
- Rolling Loud 2024: Lineup, how to stream the world's largest hip hop music festival
- Cowboys vs. Rams recap: Dak Prescott's four TD passes spur Dallas to 43-20 rout
- Tyrod Taylor, Darren Waller ruled out of Giants game against Jets after injuries
- Chris Paul does not start for first time in his long NBA career as Warriors top Rockets
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- For Palestinian and Israeli Americans, war has made the unimaginable a reality
- China holds major financial conference as leaders maneuver to get slowing economy back on track
- Two dead, 18 injured in Ybor City, Florida, shooting
- The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
- Ukrainian officials say Russian shelling killed a 91-year-old woman in a ‘terrifying night’
Ranking
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- Israeli forces raid Gaza as airstrikes drive up civilian death toll before expected invasion
- Will Ariana Madix's Boyfriend Daniel Wai Appear on Vanderpump Rules? She Says...
- Nine QB trade, free agency options for Vikings after Kirk Cousins' injury: Who could step in?
- Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
- Families of Americans trapped by Israel-Hamas war in Gaza tell CBS News they're scared and feel betrayed
- A Japan court says North Korea is responsible for the abuses of people lured there by false promises
- Three decades later, gynecologist is accused of using own sperm to inseminate patient
Recommendation
Federal hiring is about to get the Trump treatment
Tributes pour in following death of Friends star Matthew Perry: What a loss. The world will miss you.
American man indicted on murder charges over deadly attack on 2 U.S. women near German castle
More Americans over 75 are working than ever — and they're probably having more fun than you
New Mexico governor seeks funding to recycle fracking water, expand preschool, treat mental health
Bangladesh top court commutes death sentences of 7 militants to life in prison for 2016 cafe attack
Steelers' Diontae Johnson rips refs after loss to Jaguars: 'They cost us the game'
The ferocity of Hurricane Otis stunned hurricane experts and defied forecast models. Here's why.