Sam Brinton, hired over the summer to lead the Department of Energy’s efforts to find a disposal solution for the nation’s spent nuclear fuel, was fired from the agency following multiple accusations of felony theft, according to reports.
Brinton was removed from their post as DOE’s deputy assistant secretary for spent fuel and waste disposition, an agency spokesperson told the Daily Beast and other publications on Monday. The Exchange Monitor has reached out to DOE for confirmation.
News of Brinton’s firing comes after the then-deputy assistant secretary was accused of stealing luggage at airports in Minnesota and Nevada.
The first of the two alleged thefts was reported second. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said in a Dec. 7 warrant that surveillance footage from Harry Reid International Airport showed Brinton stealing a hard-shell roller bag from a baggage claim carousel in July. Local police described Brinton as a “white male adult.” Brinton uses the pronoun “they.”
In late November, Brinton was implicated in a similar crime at Minnesota’s Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. For that alleged incident, which took place in October, Brinton was charged with felony theft. A hearing in that case, being tried in the state’s Hennepin County District Court, was scheduled for Dec. 19 — although Brinton’s attorney on Monday asked that the date be pushed back until early February or so.
Brinton did not immediately return a request for comment.
Republican members of Congress have publicly cashed for Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm to fire Brinton since news broke about the alleged thefts, citing the official’s security clearance.
Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, urged Granholm in a November letter to fire Brinton and conduct a “comprehensive review” of DOE’s process for granting security clearances.
Prior to their firing Monday, DOE has acknowledged that Brinton had been on leave from the agency for at least a month. Kim Petry was standing in as the acting deputy assistant secretary for spent fuel and waste disposition.
Petry wrote in a Nov. 18 email to DOE colleagues that she had been asked to stay on as head of the office “for the foreseeable future” by Kathryn Huff, assistant secretary for nuclear energy.
