Sam Brinton, the controversial nonbinary former official of the Biden administration, concluded 2023 without incarceration despite facing several charges related to alleged airport luggage thefts across multiple states.
Brinton, who identifies as nonbinary and gender-fluid, came into the limelight in mid-2022 following their appointment to spearhead nuclear waste policy at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy.
Despite facing two criminal cases, Brinton managed to evade imprisonment. However, a third criminal case and a related lawsuit are still in progress. In December 2022, the DOE announced Brinton's departure from the agency but refrained from commenting on the reasons behind it.
"When people are appointed to critical positions with important national security responsibilities, Americans must be confident they can be trusted," stated Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., chairman of the Senate Republican Conference and ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, in a conversation with Fox News Digital.
Barrasso further emphasized the need for a comprehensive investigation into the vetting process. "They have to respond to legitimate oversight inquiries. Its in our national security interest," he added.
Nonetheless, the DOE has consistently failed to provide further information regarding Brinton's apparent dismissal, and it remains unclear whether the agency has conducted any internal investigation into the matter over the past year.
In October 2022, Brinton was charged by the police for allegedly stealing a traveler's baggage worth a total of $2,325 from the luggage carousel at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport. This incident occurred after Brinton flew in from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C., on September 16 of the same year.
In early December 2022, Las Vegas prosecutors charged Brinton with grand larceny of an item valued between $1,200 and $5,000. Brinton was accused of stealing a suitcase with a total estimated worth of $3,670 on July 6, 2022, at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. The suitcase contained jewelry valued at $1,700, clothing worth $850, and makeup valued at $500.
At the time of the alleged theft in Las Vegas, Brinton was on an official taxpayer-funded trip to the Nevada National Security Site.
In February 2023, following reports of these two cases, a female Tanzanian fashion designer based in Houston claimed that some articles of clothing Brinton had been photographed wearing were in her luggage that she reported missing in Washington, D.C., in 2018.
"I saw the images. Those were my custom designs, which were lost in that bag in 2018," she told Fox News Digital in an interview. "He wore my clothes, which was stolen."
In May, Brinton was arrested by Maryland and Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority police officers in relation to the designer's allegations. The designer's lawyer later confirmed to Fox News Digital that police who executed a search warrant at Brinton's home found the missing clothes and returned them to the designer.
The proceedings in that case have been postponed multiple times, with the next hearing scheduled for March 2024, according to court filings reviewed by Fox News Digital. The designer also filed a lawsuit against Brinton.
Brinton managed to avoid jail time for the charges filed in both Minneapolis and Las Vegas.
In April, Brinton agreed to enter an adult diversion program during a remote Hennepin County, Minnesota, hearing. As part of the adult diversion program, Brinton will be required to undergo a mental health evaluation, write a letter of apology to the victim, return any stolen property, and complete three days of community service.
In the same month, Brinton was ordered to pay $3,671 to a victim and $500 in additional fees, including a criminal fine, in the alleged Las Vegas theft. Clark County Judge Ann Zimmerman then handed Brinton a 180-day suspended jail sentence, a sentence that doesn't need to be served, and ordered Brinton to "stay out of trouble."
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