A Biden administration official is on leave after they were charged with stealing a Vera Bradley suitcase worth over $2,000 from a Minnesota airport
Natalie Musumeci - Insider
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A Biden administration official has been charged with felony theft and is on leave from their post after being accused of stealing a mother's Vera Bradley suitcase from an airport in Minnesota, according to court documents and the federal government.
Sam Brinton, the deputy assistant secretary of the Office of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition at the Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy, was accused of taking the luggage from baggage claim at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport on September 16, according to a complaint filed last month.
The 26-inch navy blue hard-sided roller bag and its contents were estimated to be worth $2,325, according to the court documents obtained by Insider.
Surveillance footage captured Brinton, 35, taking the Vera Bradley luggage from the carousel at around 4:45 p.m. after Brinton arrived at the airport on an American Airlines flight from Washington, DC, the court documents allege.
The complaint states that Brinton took off the bag's tag and left the area "at a quick pace" before hopping into a cab; records from American Airlines show Brinton never checked a bag before they left Washington DC, according to the court papers.
Brinton was then caught on surveillance footage checking into a luxury riverfront hotel in St. Paul with the bag, the complaint says.
Two days later, on September 18, Brinton was seen checking the bag before boarding a flight back to Washington DC, the documents state. Brinton was again seen on surveillance video carrying the bag at Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia after returning from a Europe trip on October 9, investigators said.
When a Minnesota police officer called Brinton that day, Brinton denied taking someone else's bag.
"If I had taken the wrong bag, I am happy to return it, but I don't have any clothes for another individual. That was my clothes when I opened the bag," Brinton told the officer, the complaint states.
The complaint alleges that Brinton then called the officer back two hours later and apologized for not being "completely honest."
Brinton told the officer that they were tired and picked up the wrong bag and only realized when they got to the hotel and opened the suitcase.
The complaint says Brinton "got nervous people would think they stole the bag and did not know what to do."
Brinton told police they left the clothes from the bag inside the drawers in the hotel room and admitted to taking the bag back to the airport on September 18.
When Brinton was questioned why they would use the bag, Brinton said they thought it would be "weirder" to leave the luggage in the hotel room rather than the clothes, the court papers say.
Police did not recover any clothes from the hotel room where Brinton stayed and as of October 27 — when the complaint was filed — the owner of the Vera Bradley bag has not gotten it back, according to the court documents.
The Department of Energy told Insider on Tuesday that Brinton is "on leave" from the agency and that Dr. Kim Petry is now "performing the duties of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition."
An attorney for Brinton did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Insider.
Brinton, who is one of the federal government's first openly "gender fluid" employees, faces up to five years in prison or a $10,000 fine or both. They are scheduled to make their first court appearance in Minnesota's 4th Judicial District Court on December 19.
Since the news of Brinton's arrest, Republicans like former President Donald Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., have used the criminal case to bash Brinton over their gender identity.
"Who could have seen this coming from they/them?" Trump Jr. said in a tweet.
GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert tweeted, "This man, hired by Joe Biden, is a thief" along with a photo of Brinton in a dress.
Non-binary Biden nuclear official Sam Brinton accused in second luggage heist
By Allie Griffin - New York Post
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A Biden energy department official who allegedly stole a woman’s suitcase from a Minneapolis airport in September has been accused of another luggage heist at a Las Vegas airport.
A felony warrant on grand larceny charges was issued for Sam Brinton, the deputy assistant secretary for spent fuel and waste disposition at the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy, 8 News Now reported Thursday.
Brinton, who made history as one of the federal government’s first gender-fluid officials, allegedly stole luggage from another traveler at Harry Reid International Airport in Vegas on an unknown date, according to the outlet.
Details about the alleged theft are scarce, but 8 News Now stated Brinton, 35, was charged with grand larceny with a value between $1,200 and $5,000.
The energy official, who uses they/them pronouns, reportedly has sticky fingers for suitcases.
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Brinton was placed on leave from the Department of Energy after it came out they were charged with felony theft for reportedly snatching a woman’s Vera Bradley suitcase from baggage claim at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport on Sept. 16, according to court documents.
The suitcase and the woman’s belongings inside it were valued at $2,325.
Brinton initially denied taking the luggage, but later claimed they mistook it for their own bag at baggage claim — despite never having checked a bag before their flight, according to court filings.
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They allegedly removed the suitcase’s ID tag after plucking from the luggage carousel, video surveillance showed.
They were later seen using the Vera Bradley suitcase on at least two occasions, while traveling to Washington, DC, on Sept. 18 and Oct. 9, investigators said.
Brinton was subsequently charged with felony theft of a moveable property without consent and placed on leave following the accusation.
Earlier this week, a group of House Republicans called for Brinton to step down over the initial allegations.
Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia and 15 other Republicans sent a letter to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on Tuesday calling for their removal from the department.
“We demand the resignation of Sam Brinton, and we implore you to set aside petty politics and appoint only the most qualified and dedicated individuals to influence America’s energy sector,” the GOP lawmakers wrote.
