CNN anchor in the dark about Sam Brinton, the infamous, nonbinary ex-Biden nuclear official

CNN anchor Pamela Brown insisted she knows absolutely nothing about Sam Brinton, the infamous, nonbinary former Biden administration official who was famously charged with multiple thefts of suitcases filled with women’s clothing from airports.  

Brinton first made headlines in mid-2022 after being appointed to lead nuclear waste policy at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy as a nonbinary gender-fluid person who uses they/them pronouns. Brinton stayed in the news as the luggage theft scandal played out, but Brown apparently missed the entire ordeal.

During a heated segment on Tuesday, Brown said the Trump administration was "trying to claw back several employees who oversaw nuclear weapons," when Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., reminded her about Brinton. 

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Sam Brinton first made headlines in mid-2022 after being appointed to lead nuclear waste policy at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy as a nonbinary gender-fluid person. (Tasia Wells/Getty Images for The Trevor Project)

"You talk about nuclear secrets, you had a person who was in charge of nuclear secrets, a man, who dressed up as a woman, would go into the airport and steal women’s luggage, was overseeing those nuclear secrets under the Biden administration and I never heard y’all say a peep about that," Burchett said. 

Brown shot back, "I don’t know anything about that, I’ll be transparent." 

Burchett told the CNN anchor she should "look up" the Brinton story. 

Brown might be in the dark because CNN largely ignored the Brinton story, publishing an online story headlined "Top Energy Department official no longer employed after luggage theft accusations," in December 2022. 

The story was covered on-air by CNN only once, according to a search of Brinton's name via Grabien Media, when a December 2022 report on "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer" downplayed his ties to Biden. 

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CNN anchor Pamela Brown insisted she knows absolutely nothing about Sam Brinton. (Screenshot/CNN)

"Several House Republican lawmakers jumped on the case to claim this incident in the case of the Biden administration prioritized wokeness over competence hiring Brinton in the first place. But we should note, Brinton was not a Biden appointee instead hired as a senior civil service official," CNN’s Jeremy Diamond told viewers. 

The comment by Brown really showed her "ignorance," according to Fox News host Greg Gutfeld, who noted it was a "huge story" outside the liberal bubble. 

"If you’re a news anchor at CNN, I guess you overlooked anything that revealed the incompetence and sheer insanity of the Biden administration," he said on "Gutfeld!" 

"It should be the new motto for CNN, ‘We know nothing, but at least it’s transparent," Gutfeld joked. 

CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Brown not knowing the Brinton story. 

In December 2022, the DOE announced Brinton had departed the agency but declined to comment on the reason.

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In December 2022, the DOE announced Sam Brinton had departed the agency but declined to comment on the reason. (Getty Images)

In October 2022, police charged Brinton with stealing a traveler's baggage worth a total of $2,325 from the luggage carousel at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport after flying in from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 16 of that year.

And in early December 2022, Las Vegas prosecutors charged Brinton with grand larceny of an item valued between $1,200 and $5,000. Police accused Brinton of stealing a suitcase with a total estimated worth of $3,670 on July 6, 2022, at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. The bag contained jewelry valued at $1,700, clothing worth $850 and makeup valued at $500.

Brinton was on an official taxpayer-funded trip to the Nevada National Security Site in Las Vegas at the time of the alleged Las Vegas theft. 

Then, in February 2023, following reports of those two cases, a female Tanzanian fashion designer based in Houston told Fox News Digital that some articles of clothing Brinton had been photographed wearing were in her luggage that she reported missing in Washington, D.C., in 2018. Brinton was arrested by Maryland and Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority police officers related to Khamsin's allegations.

Brinton was able to escape jail time in all three instances.

Brinton agreed to enter an adult diversion program during a hearing on the Minnesota charge. Under the adult diversion program, Brinton was required to have a mental health evaluation, write a letter of apology to the victim, return any stolen property and complete three days of community service.

Brinton was ordered to pay $3,671 to a victim and $500 in additional fees, including a criminal fine, in the alleged Las Vegas theft. Clark County Judge Ann Zimmerman then handed Brinton a 180-day suspended jail sentence, a sentence that doesn't need to be served, and ordered Brinton to "stay out of trouble."

Brinton was able to avoid jail time despite being charged with multiple thefts.  (Department of Energy | Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department)

The Washington Free Beacon reported last year that Brinton "pleaded guilty to petit larceny as part of a sweetheart deal that will see him serve no jail time after facing felony charges that carried a sentence of up to 20 years" in the Khamsin case in D.C. 

Fox News Digital’s Thomas Catenacci contributed to this report. 

Brian Flood is a media editor/reporter for FOX News Digital. Story tips can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and on Twitter: @briansflood.