Tipsheet

Fashion Designer's Stolen Clothes Found in 'Unwearable' Condition at Ex-Biden Official's House

Mia Cathell
Mia Cathell  |  September 26, 2023 6:15 AM

Law enforcement has seized a female fashion designer's stolen custom-designed clothes from cross-dressing former Biden official Sam Brinton's house, reportedly finding the garments in poor condition—rendered not salvageable for wear or sale.

According to Fox News Digital, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) Police Department, which patrols two major airports serving the U.S. capital, returned articles of clothing belonging to Tanzanian fashion designer Asya Khamsin that officers obtained upon executing a search warrant on the "non-binary" ex-nuclear waste chief's residence in Rockville, Maryland.

Brinton strutting in Khamsin's clothes at the "Big Gay Starbucks" in West Hollywood | Khamsin's Instagram account (left) / The Daily Mail (right)

"The MWAA Police Department can confirm we returned the victim's property and police retained photos of the evidence for prosecution," MWAA spokesperson Crystal Nosal told Fox News Digital in a statement last Tuesday, adding that the Brinton case is "still under adjudication," so MWAA, the lead investigatory agency, "cannot release more detailed information" at this time.

Khamsin's attorney Peter Hansen verified that "various parcels of retrieved clothing" were returned in "sealed evidence bags."

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However, after being reunited with her one-of-a-kind garb, Khamsin realized that they're neither "wearable" nor "saleable" due to Brinton's "use of them," Khamsin's legal counsel noted in a scathing statement shared Wednesday with the New York Post.

Khamsin is accusing Brinton of publicly gallivanting about wearing pieces of her hand-made clothing line that was previously packed inside a bag she had reported missing back on March 9, 2018, at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport near D.C. The fashionista had flown in to attend a fashion show where her ensembles were destined to hit the runway, but the swiping of Khamsin's bag containing 30 original designs prevented her from proudly displaying them on the catwalk, forcing her to cancel.

"I was thinking, 'Who took my bag? Where is it?' for a long time. Then I see images of the outfits [being worn by Brinton] and I was so confused and upset," said Khamsin. "I don't know if I would like the clothes back," Khamsin remarked earlier this year.

Following the bag's disappearance, Khamsin filed police reports with MWAA and Delta Air Lines, but the case went cold for years until she saw reports of Brinton being a seasoned luggage-lifting traveler who had stolen women's suitcases from a number of baggage carousels across America. Then, Khamsin reported the matter to the Houston Police Department in Texas, where she lives, on Dec. 16, 2022. From there, Houston police referred Khamsin's case to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)'s field office. According to Khamsin's husband, an FBI investigator called the couple in late January regarding the criminal complaint.

"He called to say, 'I'm [with] the FBI. I'm working on this case.' Then my wife gave him the information and we didn't hear anything. We don't know whether the case is on. We don't know whether the case is cold," her spouse told Fox News Digital.

"The investigation is in good hands with the FBI. I'm waiting on them. They will do the right thing," Khamsin added.

A couple of weeks after the May 17 police raid reportedly finding Khamsin's wardrobe inside the "gender-fluid" suspect's home, Brinton was charged with felony grand larceny of items worth $1,000 or more and arrested on the spot in a late-night bust for being an out-of-state "fugitive from justice." Body-worn camera footage was filmed of Brinton's at-home arrest, per an incident report, but the Montgomery County Police Department has denied Townhall's public records request for access to the police video(s), claiming releasing the records would "endanger the life or physical safety of an individual," pursuant to Maryland law.

Prior to Brinton's apprehension, Khamsin tweeted evidence of the gender non-conforming thief literally stealing her look. In a series of gotcha pics, the 36-year-old man, who uses "they/them" pronouns, is photographed prancing around in the immigrant African entrepreneur's creations, including posing at a Trevor Project gala when he was the LGBTQ outfit's head of advocacy and government affairs, grinning as a United Nations panelist, and sporting pink pumps at West Hollywood's "Big Gay Starbucks."

Brinton was booked into the Montgomery County Detention Center's Central Processing Unit on a no-bond status as he awaited extradition. There, the sticky-fingered globetrotter was stuck in a men's jail, which houses inmates based on biological sex. Upon transfer, for a two-week period, Brinton was jailed in Virginia before being freed on a $5,000 bond ahead of the preliminary hearing, which has been delayed to Dec. 12, according to Arlington General District Court records viewed by Townhall.

Brinton's case file | Arlington General District Court

As of Sept. 8, both parties were discussing "potential plea resolutions," but require more time to review the "just-received additional discovery," Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Lindsey Battaglia wrote in a motion on behalf of the state prosecution.

Khamsin additionally is pursuing a civil case against Brinton, a lawsuit she launched on Sept. 15 to be reimbursed for "the stolen items, the larger business harm done to her by the theft, and the public subordination of her business brand to Mr. Brinton's personal brand." Brinton's third-known theft "wrongfully put" Khamsin "in a bind," Khamsin's lawyers commented, speaking of their Houston-based client: "[Khamsin] could watch her stolen designs be used and celebrated without attribution to her, or she could call out the wrongful taking, but then watch both her and her work be publicly linked to Mr. Brinton without her consent."

This is the third incident (and counting) of Brinton's kleptomania. The extent of Brinton's cross-country crime spree is still coming to light through the local-level court systems. Despite being prosecuted by multiple jurisdictions for his pattern of purloining, Brinton has twice-escaped jail time in a pair of theft-related cases, wherein he faced up to a total of 15 years behind bars.

Over in Minnesota, Brinton eluded a five-year prison sentence for stealing a woman's luxury Vera Bradley bag priced at about $2,325 from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport on Sept. 16, 2022. Instead of being imprisoned for committing felony theft, Brinton entered an "alternative" pathway that helps offenders avoid a conviction. "...[T]here are times when public safety is best served by diverting first-time offenders from the criminal justice system," the Democrat-led Hennepin County Attorney's Office explains online. "Adult diversion programs refer these offenders to social services, chemical dependency or mental health resources." 

As part of the soft-on-crime "diversion" program, Brinton was required to undergo a psychological mental-health examination, write a letter of apology to the initial female victim, return any stolen property, and complete three days of community service.

And, in Nevada, Brinton pleaded "no contest" to misdemeanor theft for pilfering another woman's suitcase containing clothes, makeup, and jewelry valued at $3,670 on July 6, 2022, from the Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. The frequent flyer's thieving was caught on surveillance camera, but prosecutors had downgraded Brinton's charges from felony grand larceny, in accordance with plea negotiations. The plea deal let the mustached marauder, who was ordered to "stay out of trouble," secure a suspended 180-day jail sentence. Otherwise, the felony charge would've carried a punishment of up to 10-years incarceration.

At the time of the Sin City heist, Brinton was on an official taxpayer-funded business trip he took to and from the crime scene.

Functional Government Initiative (FGI) spokesperson Peter McGinnis, whose watchdog organization obtained internal expense reports documenting Brinton's "secret" trek, said the venture put the "American public unwittingly at the wheel of the getaway car," urging the federal government to reform its vetting process for executive positions. "Senior officials committing [a] petty crime while on the clock is a clear indication that something is dysfunctional in the personnel procedures," McGinnis stated.

The filings unearthed documentation of Brinton's July 2022 meeting at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), which is tasked with securing America's nuclear-weapons stockpile. Throughout the course of Brinton's four-day visit costing U.S. taxpayers a price tag of around $2,000, he stayed at the Hilton Grand Vacations Club on the famed casino-lined Las Vegas Strip.

Last summer, Brinton was tapped to oversee America's nuke disposal policy in the Biden administration's Office of Nuclear Energy within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), climbing the ranks as a celebrated member of DOE's leadership team.

Quietly placed on paid "administrative leave," Biden's salaried bag-snatching bandit remained on the DOE's payroll taking home almost $20,500, according to the former federal employee's paystubs Townhall obtained via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. For a month during Brinton's leave of absence with pay in the fall of 2022, the high-level hire was still on the "Senior Executive Service (ES)" pay plan pocketing taxpayer-funded paychecks from his six-figure government salary of $178,063.


Then, on Dec. 4, the Biden administration bid the suitcase-snatcher farewell—booked on a one-way ticket to the unemployment line—though there was little fanfare compared to Brinton's recruitment. Kept hush-hush, news of Brinton's firing was not publicized until eagle-eyed observers noticed that any mention of Brinton was nuked from the DOE's website in mid-December.