Ex-Biden admin official Sam Brinton released without bail in luggage-theft case

Former Biden administration official Sam Brinton, believed to be the government's first openly gender fluid federal employee, was released without bail on Wednesday after his arrest for allegedly stealing luggage from the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport last year.

The judge ordered the former federal employee to refrain from contacting either of the two women who allege he stole their luggage, the Daily Mail reported.

Brinton came under fire over allegations that he stole a Vera Bradley suitcase that the owner claimed contained roughly $2,325 in the value of its contents. He initially denied stealing the bag but later claimed to have taken it by mistake and notified that airport that he would return it.

Brinton faces up to five years in prison and a possible $10,000 fine if convicted for the Minneapolis theft.

He further faces a second allegation that he stole luggage from a different woman at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas on a separate occasion. Brinton appeared in court in December in connection with that incident and was released from custody on $15,000 bail, the Mail noted.

The Department of Energy in mid-December 2022 removed Brinton from his post as deputy assistant secretary of spent fuel and waste disposition.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.