Top Biden Nuclear Official Charged!

In September, just before covertly taking a leave of absence, Sam Brinton, a senior Energy Department (DOE) official, was accused of snatching a traveler’s luggage in the Minneapolis airport.

According to a criminal complaint submitted on October 26 in Minnesota state court, Brinton allegedly stole a Vera Bradley suitcase valued at $2,325 from the luggage carousel at the Minneapolis St. Paul Airport (MSP) on September 16. Brinton is the DOE’s deputy assistant secretary for spent fuel and waste disposition. Brinton had made the trip to MSP that day from Washington, D.C.

According to court documents, after the owner of the suitcase called the police, authorities looked over footage of the luggage carousel and saw Brinton grabbing the suitcase before pulling off its owner-identifying tag. Brinton was seen by law authorities using the bags on at least two additional flights to Washington, DC, on September 18 and October 9.

Then, on October 9, when a police officer contacted to talk about the event, Brinton denied stealing anything. Brinton acknowledged still having the 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 contacted the officer again two hours later and apologized for not being totally honest. Brinton, though, admitted that it was an error and blamed being sleepy for selecting the incorrect bag at the carousel.

Brinton was finally accused of felony theft of movable goods without authorization, which carries a potential term of five years in prison, a fine of $10,000, or both.

The accusations against Brinton were originally made public on Monday by Minnesota-based publication Alpha News.

According to the Exchange Monitor, which analyzes government hires, Brinton was put on leave approximately a month ago, and a replacement official was selected early this month. At first, the DOE didn’t specify the reason for Brinton’s leave of absence.