Dresses worn by Sam Brinton intended for a fashion show, according to a designer

A Houston designer claims she had to cancel a fashion show after her bag full of bespoke pieces was lost at a Washington DC airport – only to have them apparently resurface years later, carried by the ex-Department of Energy official Sam Brinton.

Asya Khamsin filed a lost baggage claim after her bag containing 30 original drawings disappeared from Ronald Reagan Washington Airport in DC on March 9, 2018, meaning she had to pull out of the scheduled show.

Several years later, the Tanzanian-born designer came across photographs of Brinton — who identifies as non-binary and uses the they/them pronouns — wearing what appeared to be the same original custom dresses.

Speaking from Zanzibar, Khamsin told the Post: “I was thinking, ‘Who took my bag, where is it?’ for a long time.Then I see pictures of the outfits [being worn by Brinton] and I was so confused and upset.

“I was thinking, where did he get those clothes – because I didn’t think he was a thief.”

Khamsin also posted a series of photos online showing the disgraced former Energy Ministry official wearing elaborate side-by-side dresses with her missing dress designs, which appear identical.

Khamsin is not accusing Brinton of stealing the clothes or her luggage from the Washington DC airport, but said she was confused as to how they ended up in their possession.

The designer explained that the dresses and jewelry were originally displayed at the Lady In Red fashion show she leads in Dar es Salaam and said she was passing through Washington DC to show them on the way to the back to Houston when his case disappeared. She shared her conversations with officials about the lost luggage with Fox News.

Brinton, 35, served as the Biden administration’s deputy assistant secretary for spent fuel and waste disposal at the DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy, but was fired after being accused of stealing the briefcase of a woman in a Minneapolis airport and another woman’s bag in a Las Vegas airport during the summer.

In both cases, Brinton had traveled on flights from Washington D.C. before he allegedly slipped bags from airport baggage carousels.

After seeing Brinton wearing what she believes to be her stolen outfit, Khamsin filed a report with the Houston Police Department on December 16. The following month, she claims to have been contacted by the agency’s field office in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

She added: “I don’t know if I would like to get the clothes back. The investigation is in good hands with the FBI. I’m waiting for them, they’ll do what it takes.

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The FBI would not confirm if it is investigating, per agency policy. As of Wednesday evening, Brinton had not been charged with any crime related to Khamsin’s clothing.

Khamsin added: “I can’t say anything bad for him, he’s a human. I don’t want him to go to jail. »

Brinton was released without bail and ordered not to contact any of the victims last week after a Minnesota court appearance.

They appeared in court in Las Vegas in December and were released after posting $15,000 bond. The judge in that case told the former nuclear waste official to “don’t get in trouble.”

If convicted, Brinton faces up to five years in prison for the Minnesota robbery and up to 10 years for the Las Vegas heist.

Attempts to contact Brinton and their attorney in Las Vegas were unsuccessful.