Biden's non-binary nuclear official Sam Brinton accused of second luggage heist

US President Joe Biden’s nuclear official, Sam Brinton, a senior Energy Department (DOE) official, who is one of the first gender non-binary officials in the US federal government, has been accused of another luggage heist at a Las Vegas airport. He was charged with stealing a traveller's luggage at the Minneapolis airport in September.

He allegedly took the Vera Bradley suitcase of a woman worth $2,325 from the luggage carousel at the Minneapolis St. Paul Airport (MSP) on Sept. 16 and quietly left, a criminal complaint filing at the Minnesota state court obtained by the American broadcasters noted. 

Biden’s official, known for they/them pronouns, now has a felony warrant on grand larceny charges issued against him for second luggage theft, 8 News Now reported. He was spotted stealing luggage from another traveller at Harry Reid International Airport in Vegas on a date unknown. Brinton, 35, was charged with grand larceny with a value between $1,200 and $5,000, sources told  8 News Now. He is currently placed on leave from the Department of Energy. 

In September, Brinton removed ID tag identifying owner from baggage & stole it

Biden's deputy assistant secretary for spent fuel and waste disposition at the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy, in September, was involved in a similar robbery as was travelling from Washington, D.C., to MSP. On that day, a surveillance video showed him picking up the luggage and leaving the airport.

A filing stated that Brinton removed the ID tag identifying the owner from the baggage before leaving. He was also seen using the same Vera Bradley suitcase on at least two occasions during his trips from Washington, DC to Minneapolis St. Paul Airport (MSP) on Sept. 18 and Oct. 9, respectively. The bag was recovered in his possession after the owner, a woman, filed a complaint for her missing baggage with the police.

Minneapolis-St Paul Airport Police Department mentioned in the filing that Brinton arrived in Minnesota on an American Airlines flight from Washington DC and did not check the bag but removed the owner's tag suspiciously. He also initially denied stealing the suitcase to police officers, but later when the suitcase was found he claimed that he had taken it by mistake.

He initially told the police officers that the bag was his. Brinton did open the bag at their hotel and at the time had realized the clothes inside wasn’t theirs, and that it wasn't his luggage, the court filing said.  He may have got nervous that someone would think they stole it, and so he "didn’t know what to do," it further stated. The US federal official then decided to empty the luggage and dumped the owner's clothes and belongings inside the hotel's drawers.