Sam Brinton, a nuclear engineer and the first openly non-binary individual to serve in a federal government leadership role, has been charged with theft for the second time in three months.
It’s official. As of June 19th, I now serve my nation as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition in the Office of Nuclear Energy in the Department of Energy. pic.twitter.com/zLq3Bf97X2
— Sam Brinton (@sbrinton) June 29, 2022
A warrant for Brinton cites a charge of grand larceny for stealing luggage between $1,200 and $5,000 from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas.
This is the second theft charge against Brinton, who serves as the DOE’s deputy assistant secretary for spent fuel and waste disposition, in less than three months.
In September, Brinton allegedly took a Vera Bradley suitcase worth $2,325 from the luggage carousel at the Minneapolis St. Paul Airport (MSP), according to a criminal complaint filed on Oct. 26 in Minnesota state court.
BREAKING: Biden Nuclear Waste official Sam Brinton accused of stealing luggage AGAIN.
The first time was in Minneapolis, this time at a Las Vegas airport
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) December 9, 2022
Brinton said that he had taken the bag by accident after police video surveillance of the carousel identified Brinton taking the luggage and then removing the tag identifying the owner. According to law enforcement, Brinton used the luggage during at least two other trips to Washington, D.C.
Last month, Brinton taught a seminar on the “science of spanking” at a Los Angeles kink conference sponsored by CLAW Corp., a national leather charity. Brinton’s seminar, Spanking: From Calculus To Chemistry,” is advertised as “the physics version of the class where you can hear about Sam’s original calculation of the spring force coefficient of a butt being spanked.”
According to their profile on the CLAW’s website, Brinton, who uses the pseudonym NuclearNerd, has been “active in the kink world since 2013, host monthly kink parties in their dungeon in Washington, DC, and estimate they have spanked over 2,000 cute butts.”
16 Republican members of Congress have signed a letter to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy, Jennifer M. Granholm, demanding Brinton’s resignation. The letter points out that as an appointed official, Sam Brinton represents both the Energy Department and the United States. The letter states that it is simply not possible for an individual to represent American values and simultaneously violate the felony laws of the land. “Brinton’s actions, along with your Department’s lack of transparency when dealing with this matter, reflect poorly on the Department of Energy, and they raise concern as to the Biden Administration’s priorities when appointing high-ranking officials,” the letter says.
If convicted, Brinton could receive a sentence of up to five years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both.
