Another luggage-theft allegation has been leveled against a Biden administration official who was charged last month on accusations of stealing a suitcase from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
2nd luggage theft allegation leveled against U.S. official accused of similar crime at MSP
Prosecutors in Las Vegas have filed a warrant for the arrest of the Biden administration official.
December 9, 2022 at 9:34PM
Sam Brinton, 35, of Rockville, Md., was charged Thursday in Nevada's Clark County District Court with grand larceny in connection with what KLAS-TV in Las Vegas reported was the theft of a piece of luggage from the Harry Reid International Airport.
The charge estimates the value of the stolen suitcase and its contents at anywhere from $1,200 to $5,000, according to online court records, which do not offer any specifics behind the criminal complaint including when the alleged theft occurred.
Prosecutors in Las Vegas have filed a warrant for the arrest of Brinton, who is on leave as a deputy assistant secretary of the Office of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition at the Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy.
Brinton was charged in late October in Hennepin County District Court with felony theft and has a hearing in Minneapolis scheduled for Dec. 19.
Multiple messages left for defense attorney Fabian Hoffner and his client for comment did not yield a reply as of Friday afternoon.
On Tuesday, a letter sent to U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm from 15 Republican members of the House of Representatives called for Brinton's resignation.
"It is imperative that we do not allow a person charged with a felony to influence America's policies," the letter read.
According to the criminal complaint in Minnesota:
On Sept. 16, MSP airport police were alerted that a suitcase on a flight from New Orleans was missing from the baggage-claim area. Brinton arrived from Washington, D.C., on a different flight around the same time and did not have a checked bag.
Police reviewed video surveillance and saw Brinton remove the luggage from the carousel and put the bag's tag in their hand bag before leaving "at a quick pace," the complaint read.
An MSP police officer called Brinton on Oct. 9 and asked about the theft. At first, Brinton denied knowing anything about it, then acknowledged taking the suitcase. "If I had taken the wrong bag, I am happy to return it," the complaint quoted Brinton as saying.
These Minnesotans are poised to play prominent roles in state and national politics in the coming years.
