A member of the Senate GOP leadership has called on the Biden administration’s Department of Energy to launch an internal investigation into the department’s security clearance process.
This comes after the arrest of Sam Brinton — a non-binary DOE official who was in charge of managing nuclear waste — on felony charges that he stole luggage on two occasions this past summer.
According to Fox News on Wednesday, Wyoming GOP Sen. John Barrasso, the ranking member on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has called on the DOE to review its vetting process for those given important security access.
“It is clear as day that felons should not hold security clearances,” Barrasso told Fox News Digital.
“For months, I’ve been demanding answers from the Department of Energy on their failed security clearance process. Secretary (Jennifer) Granholm has provided none.”
Barrasso continued his statement, saying, “When people are appointed to critical positions with important national security responsibilities, Americans must be confident they can be trusted.
“The department must launch a thorough investigation into the vetting process. They have to respond to legitimate oversight inquiries.
“It’s in our national security interest.”
Brinton could be sentenced to 15 years in prison if he is convicted. He has left his job at the DOE, a department spokesperson said this week.
Will Sam Brinton be convicted?
Yes: 58% (21 Votes)
No: 42% (15 Votes)
The spokesperson said the DOE isn’t allowed to “comment further on personnel matters,” according to Fox.
Brinton said in June that he began his job at the Department of Energy on the 19th of that month. Barrasso’s comments to Fox about security issues were made after Brinton’s departure from the DOE.
Brinton, who had been serving as the deputy assistant secretary for invested fuel and waste, allegedly stole thousands of dollars worth of jewelry, clothes, and makeup, according to the Envoy Post,
Both incidents allegedly took place at airport luggage carousels — one in Minneapolis-St-Paul in September, and the other in Las Vegas in July.
Barrasso had been attempting to get clarity from Granholm on the department’s hiring and vetting process since July, as reported by Envoy Post.
In his third letter, sent last Friday, Barrasso continued to press Granholm for an answer.
“As I stated in my last letter, the Deputy Assistant Secretary’s security clearance needs to be immediately revoked, and the Department needs to undertake all necessary steps to terminate Brinton’s employment immediately,” Barrasso wrote.
“The Department’s failure to remove an individual who has now been charged with multiple felonies from its most senior ranks is shameful, inexplicable, and actively eroding the trust of the public it serves.”
The GOP Senator concluded with, “This is my third straight letter to you in a series of unanswered inquiries related to Department personnel and national security.”
Granholm has yet to respond to Barrasso’s questions, even in the wake of Brinton’s departure from the DOE, according to Fox.
