Fashion designer claims Sam Brinton wore her stolen clothes
Fashion designer claims Sam Brinton wore her stolen clothes

Fashion designer claims Sam Brinton wore her stolen clothes

A fashion designer from Houston claimed that disgraced former Department of Energy official Sam Brinton wore the custom-made clothes that she had reported missing from a Washington, DC, airport in 2018.

Asya Khamsin, a Tanzanian fashion designer who has made her own clothing for years, shared the shocking connection in a Monday tweet that has since gone viral.

Khamsin said she found photos of Brinton wearing her custom clothing that she had packed in the missing bag after learning that Brinton had been charged with stealing multiple pieces of luggage from two US airports.

The fashion designer tweeted photos showing some of the clothes she lost and then Brinton — who identifies as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns — wearing the same outfits.

“I saw the images. Those were my custom designs, which were lost in that bag in 2018,” she told Fox News. “He wore my clothes, which was stolen.”


Head of Advocacy The Trevor Project Sam Brinton speaks onstage during The Trevor Project TrevorLIVE NYC at Cipriani Wall Street on June 11.
Khamsin called the police after seeing news reports on Brinton’s other luggage thefts from airports.
Getty Images for The Trevor Proj

A picture of Asya Khamsin.
Asya Khamsin is a Tanzanian fashion designer based out of Houston.
Asya Khamsin

2018 from the Instagram account of Asya Khamsin, a Tanzanian fashion designer based in Houston Texas.
Khamsin has accused Brinton of wearing her clothes that disappeared from an airport in 2018.
Instagram/Asya Khamsin

Photo circa March 2018 from the Instagram account of Asya Khamsin, a Tanzanian <a href=fashion designer based in Houston Texas.” class=”wp-image-25872663″ srcset=”https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?quality=75&strip=all 807w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=267,300&quality=75&strip=all 267w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=768,862&quality=75&strip=all 768w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=632,709&quality=75&strip=all 632w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=223,250&quality=75&strip=all 223w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=564,633&quality=75&strip=all 564w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=525,589&quality=75&strip=all 525w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=442,496&quality=75&strip=all 442w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=80,90&quality=75&strip=all 80w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=574,644&quality=75&strip=all 574w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=281,316&quality=75&strip=all 281w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=272,305&quality=75&strip=all 272w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=437,491&quality=75&strip=all 437w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=251,282&quality=75&strip=all 251w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=232,260&quality=75&strip=all 232w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=214,240&quality=75&strip=all 214w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=202,227&quality=75&strip=all 202w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=190,213&quality=75&strip=all 190w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=186,209&quality=75&strip=all 186w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=300,337&quality=75&strip=all 300w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=167,187&quality=75&strip=all 167w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=155,174&quality=75&strip=all 155w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=146,164&quality=75&strip=all 146w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=139,156&quality=75&strip=all 139w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=116,130&quality=75&strip=all 116w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=180,202&quality=75&strip=all 180w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=95,107&quality=75&strip=all 95w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=83,93&quality=75&strip=all 83w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=63,71&quality=75&strip=all 63w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=55,62&quality=75&strip=all 55w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=50,56&quality=75&strip=all 50w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=178,200&quality=75&strip=all 178w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=231,259&quality=75&strip=all 231w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=322,362&quality=75&strip=all 322w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=52,58&quality=75&strip=all 52w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=150,168&quality=75&strip=all 150w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000007083004.jpg?resize=45,50&quality=75&strip=all 45w” sizes=”(max-width: 807px) 100vw, 807px”/>
“I saw the images. Those were my custom designs, which were lost in that bag in 2018,” Khamsin said.
Instagram/Asya Khamsin

Khamsin’s bag vanished from the Ronald Reagan Washington Airport on March 9, 2018, after she flew into the capital for an event where she was to put her clothes on display, she told Fox. However, after the bag disappeared, she was unable to participate.

Her husband filed reports with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police Department and filed a claim with Delta Airlines, which is the airline Khamsin used to fly from Houston to DC. The bag was never recovered.

Communications between Delta and Khamsin shared with Fox News show the fashion designer pleading with the airline for her bag back, saying it was full of expensive clothes, shoes, jewelry and other personal items.


A picture of Sam Brinton.
Khamsin said she found photos of Brinton wearing her custom clothing after learning that Brinton was charged with stealing multiple pieces of luggage from two US airports.
Getty Images for The Trevor Proj

A picture of one of Khamsin's dresses on the runway.
The fashion designer tweeted photos showing some of the clothes she lost and Brinton wearing the same outfits.
Instagram/Asya Khamsin

After seeing photos of Brinton wearing what she believes are her clothes on the news, she filed a report with the Houston Police Department on Dec. 16. In late January, she said, she was contacted by the FBI field office in Minneapolis, Minnesota, according to Khamsin’s husband.

“Houston police, I guess, they [sent] the case to the FBI in Minnesota,” Khamsin’s husband told Fox. “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.”

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


Sam Brinton speaks onstage during the Trevor Project's TrevorLIVE LA 2018 at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on December 3, 2018 in Beverly Hills, California.
Brinton was fired from the DOE last year after they were charged with stealing bags from airports in Minneapolis and Las Vegas.
Getty Images for The Trevor Project

Brinton, 35, served as the Biden administration’s deputy assistant secretary for spent fuel and waste disposition at the DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy before they were canned after they were charged with stealing a woman’s suitcase from a Minneapolis airport in September and another woman’s bag from a Las Vegas airport in July.

In both the Minnesota and Nevada cases, Brinton had traveled on flights from Washington, DC, before allegedly swiping the bags from the airports’ baggage carousels, according to criminal complaints obtained by Fox News.

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


Sam Brinton attends The Trevor Project's TrevorLIVE LA 2019 at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on November 17, 2019
Brinton faces up to five years in prison for the Minnesota theft.
Getty Images for The Trevor Project

They appeared in Las Vegas court in December and were released after posting a $15,000 bond. The judge in that case told the former nuclear waste official to “stay out of trouble.”

Brinton faces up to five years in prison for the Minnesota theft and up to 10 years’ jail time for the Las Vegas heist.

Attempts to contact Brinton and their attorney in Las Vegas were unsuccessful. The Post also reached out to Khamsin and Delta Airlines for comment.

Additional reporting by David Propper and Marjorie Hernandez

Related Posts