A selfie Sam Brinton posted to Instagram may have been the final piece of the puzzle linking a second airport luggage theft to President Joe Biden’s embattled Deputy Assistant Secretary for Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition.
According to a report published Saturday by The Washington Times, Las Vegas police were struggling to determine the identity of the person — who was clearly visible on surveillance video from early July walking away with a woman’s hard-sided suitcase. However, they caught a break when reports of Brinton’s alleged involvement — in a similar luggage-theft case in Minnesota — began to circulate nationwide.
When the Las Vegas police officer noticed that the photos of Brinton bore a striking resemblance to the as yet unidentified face from the surveillance videos, he decided to check out the Biden administration official’s social media. As luck would have it, Brinton had posted a selfie to Instagram on the date of the theft — and in that selfie, was wearing the same shirt as the person on the video from the airport. Brinton’s Instagram account has since been made private.
“On his page I located a post which was dated 07/06/22, the same day of the theft,” the officer’s statement read. “The post was a selfie picture of Brinton who appeared to be in an airport. Brinton was clearly wearing the same exact white T-shirt with a large, rainbow colored atomic nuclear symbol design on the front as seen on video at Hairy Reid International Airport.”
According to the arrest warrant, Brinton allegedly flew from Dulles International Airport with one checked bag but left Harry Reid International airport with two bags from the baggage carousel. Police said that the suspect had acted strangely when removing the second bag, placing it back on the carousel momentarily before grabbing it again and walking away hurriedly.
“Brinton looks around, turns his body 180 degrees, and picks the victims luggage up off the carousel again. Brinton sets it back to back with his luggage, pulls the handle up and looks around again. Brinton quickly walks away with his luggage and the victim’s luggage back to back, rolling them on the floor holding on by the handles,” the warrant said.
The stated value of the suitcase (and its contents) taken in Las Vegas was $3,670.74, including $1,700 worth of jewelry and an additional $500 worth of makeup.
Brinton has been placed on leave while the investigation continues — and a number of Republicans have called for Brinton to be fired.