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Politics Foreign Affairs Culture Fellows Program

Sam Brinton, A Fraud Our Media Helped Create

Bald-headed perv scientist's lurid account of Christian abuse was a story too good for press to check
Screen Shot 2022-12-08 at 5.53.42 PM

You probably heard about Sam Brinton, the pervy nuclear scientist the Biden administration hired at the Department of Energy. He goes to work in women's clothes, and runs sadomasochist workshops on the weekend. He was arrested recently for allegedly stealing a woman's suitcase in an airport. Shocking, isn't it, that someone so obviously mentally unhinged would find himself in trouble with the law for supposedly stealing a suitcase full of women's clothes.

Here's a good piece by the gay activist Wayne Beson asking if Brinton's story was always too good to be true. Beson accuses top LGBT organizations of willfully ignoring the warning signs that Brinton was a fraud, because his story was perfect. Brinton came onto the gay scene by claiming to have been a victim of extremely cruel "conversion therapy" attempting to torture the gay out of him. Beson tried to verify Brinton's story:

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I excitedly reached out to Brinton, and they were oddly inaccessible, communicating indirectly through intermediary LGBTQ+ activists in the Boston area, where they were attending MIT. The reason for Brinton’s scarcity had to do with two simple questions I had asked them: “Who was your conversion therapist, and in which facility did the therapy occur?”

This basic inquiry was critically important for two reasons. First, to share Brinton’s story, we had to verify if it was true. Second, Brinton’s testimony involved a torture center where hideous abuses were presumably still occurring against children at least as young as 11. If such a place existed, there was a moral imperative to rapidly identify the abusive therapist and contact the authorities to stop the atrocities.

Why was Sam Brinton the only survivor of conversion therapy I’ve encountered since 1998 who refused to answer these questions? Not only had every other survivor provided this information willingly, but they were eager to fight back and shut down their own therapist or “ex-gay” minister.

Rapidly embraced by activists enamored by their story, youth, and charisma, Brinton began widely sharing their story in Boston. Soon, people began asking me why I wasn’t promoting such a powerful example of the harm caused by conversion therapy. On October 11, 2011, I wrote in the comments section of Queerty, “Until he provides more information to verify his experience, he makes it impossible for us to use him as an example. Indeed, it would be grossly irresponsible for us to do so.” [At this time, Sam did not use they/them pronouns]

Beson details many more examples of Brinton's evasiveness. He adds:

The media is also culpable in this scandal. In countless stories, not a single reporter from the world’s top publications pressed Brinton to name their counselor. What kind of journalism is this?

Not once did they ask them, “How do you justify crisscrossing the world to ban conversion therapy, yet you won’t lift a finger to stop your therapist, who was far more egregious? Are you not concerned he’s out there still torturing kids?”

They could have asked, “How do you remember every detail of your experience except the ones that would confirm the veracity of your story?” This failure of modern journalism is a black eye for the profession. If they want respect, they must do better and not behave like third-rate hacks.

They won't do better, because too many of them regard their job as nurturing, confirming, and advancing a Narrative. Some decades from now, people will look back at this insane time in American history, and wonder how so many important institutions failed, and bankrupted their own authority. It will be interesting to see which, if any, major media outlets look into Brinton's past in light of his felony theft arrest. Or will this too just go down the memory hole?

Longtime readers know that at least twice in the past I looked into the particular circumstances of the transgendered people killed in a given year, amid what we are told by the media, LGBT activists, and Democratic politicians is an "epidemic" of anti-trans violence. It doesn't take a lot of research to determine that almost none of them died as a result of anti-trans bigotry. Most of them were street prostitutes, one of the most dangerous jobs around. Others were victims of domestic violence. Others died in altercations that apparently had nothing to do with their trans status. Still others died in drug deals gone bad. But see, these stories are all Too Good To Check™.

I wonder, though, if Brinton had to go through a background check for his high-level government job -- and if so, why didn't the investigators catch any of this? Or was it a case of the Biden administration wanted diversity points. Surely Brinton wasn't the only nuclear scientist in America capable of doing the job for which he was hired.

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JON FRAZIER
JON FRAZIER
Re: if Brinton had to go through a background check for his high-level government job and if so, why didn't the investigators catch any of this?

Almost certainly he did.
Over on the Disapora site someone who went through the federal background check process helpfully provided the form used for this. It is extremely long with lots (and lots and lots) of categories. However when it comes to mental illness, the question specify certain very serious problems (e.g., schizophrenia) and therapy for them. There's no place where one woul have top provide information about "gay conversion therapy" or lesser mental problems, like (non-bipolar) depression, OCD or anxiety disorders. If Brinton did not have a relatively recent criminal record and was careful about who he used for personal references there would be nothing to catch.
schedule 1 year ago
    Fran Macadam
    Fran Macadam
    He was given a clean bill by our authorities, so there's no reason not to promote him to the top. And every reason to do so, by the lights of elite ideology. (Suit) case dismissed.
    schedule 1 year ago
    Theodore Iacobuzio
    Theodore Iacobuzio
    Frazier, if a guy shows up for a job interview in a dress and makeup you don't need a security clearance. You hear him out politely, say he'll hear from you, and put his application in the trash. This dude is a walking nightmare of whom no good can come before he gets help. A society that willfully ignores that is doomed.

    Still, your information about the actual form is valuable.

    Turns out he's a serial luggage lifter:

    https://nypost.com/2022/12/09/biden-nuclear-official-sam-brinton-accused-in-second-luggage-heist/
    schedule 1 year ago
Fran Macadam
Fran Macadam
The ultimate LGBTQI+ carpetbagger!
schedule 1 year ago