Lower Manhattan, N.Y. (PIX11) — The head of New York City's Public School system is making his first extended comments since his home was raided by the FBI last week.
School's Chancellor David Banks said he is not a target of the federal investigation, and is not sure what the investigation is all about.
Banks also said federal agents still have his cell phones-- after seizing them last Wednesday.
“They wanted my personal phone and work phone,” Banks said during a press conference. “Outside of that I don’t know very much. I would not describe what happened as a ‘raid.’”
Banks shares his home in Harlem with his partner who is First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright. She has also said she is fully cooperating and did nothing wrong.
Bank’s brothers— Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks and Terence Banks, who runs a consulting firm— were also paid visits by the FBI.
Chancellor Banks said he has hired an attorney who confirmed with the feds that he personally is not a target of this probe.
“I have always lived my life with integrity, every day of my life, and anybody who knows me knows that,” Banks said.
Still, the Chancellor is another of Mayor Eric Adams’ high ranking officials under the microscope. Thursday, the Mayor had to replace his Police Commissioner Edward Caban who resigned because he and other top leaders at the NYPD are facing a federal investigation involving the handling of night clubs.
It is unclear if the police probe is linked to the Banks brothers.
The Chancellor refused to answer several specific questions the FBI investigation he's involved with, but did have these words for students and parents with concerns.
“They will see someone who holds his head high, who walks with confidence, who leads with integrity,” Banks said “But even when you do that, it doesn't mean there won't be challenges, but I will demonstrate every single day how I was raised and how I live my life.”
