The ranking member of the Senate’ Energy and Natural Resources Committee Tuesday urged the Department of Energy to fire its head of spent nuclear fuel disposal activities following news of a recent felony theft charge.
In his Tuesday letter to Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) expressed “serious concerns” regarding news that Sam Brinton, deputy assistant secretary of spent fuel and waste disposition in DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy, had been accused of theft by the state of Minnesota.
Brinton, who identifies as genderfluid and uses they and them as third-person pronouns, was accused Oct. 27 of stealing a bag from a baggage claim carousel at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
“It is in the interest of both the Department’s mission and our national security that the Deputy Assistant Secretary’s clearance be immediately revoked,” said Barrasso, who occupies the number-two spot on the Senate’s energy panel. “Additionally, the Department should undertake all necessary steps to terminate their employment immediately.”
In a list of questions provided to Granholm, the U.S. senator from Wyoming asked whether any “security issues” arose while Brinton was being vetted for a security clearance. Brinton joined DOE in June, several months before the alleged theft occurred Sep. 16, according to Minnesota’s criminal complaint.
Barrasso also asked that DOE conduct “a comprehensive review” of its security clearance adjudication process.
Brinton has been on leave from DOE for at least a month, the agency has acknowledged. Kim Petry is standing in for Brinton on an acting basis. Petry wrote in a Nov. 18 email to DOE colleagues that she had been asked to stay on as head of the spent fuel office “for the foreseeable future” by Kathryn Huff, assistant secretary for nuclear energy.
A court hearing for Brinton was scheduled for Dec. 19 in Minnesota’s Hennepin County District Court.
