Former Biden administration official Sam Brinton’s story of familial abuse is facing additional scrutiny after his family claimed that he fabricated his story.
“I’ve never signed him up to have any conversion therapy and that’s pretty much the only comment I can give on that because he needs to tell his own story,” Brinton’s mother, Peggy Jo told the New York Post. Brinton uses they/them pronouns.
Brinton, who goes by they/them pronouns, became a notable LGBT activist before joining the Biden Administration. The disgraced former offiical claims to have suffered abuse at the hands of his Christian parents and to have been put through painful conversion therapy. (RELATED: Sam Brinton Released Without Bail After First Minneapolis Court Appearance)
Brinton faced controversy in Sept. 2022 after being accused of stealing women’s luggage in a Minneapolis airport. It was later revealed that Brinton allegedly stole luggage from a Las Vegas airport as well. Brinton was charged with grand larceny for his alleged crimes and fired from the Biden administration.
Brinton detailed the alleged abuse in a 2010 interview, in which Brinton claimed to have been sent to the emergency room multiple times due to homophobic abuse in the home. Brinton also repeated allegations about conversion therapy in a 2018 New York Times op-ed.
Brinton was initially praised for sharing the harrowing story, but further investigation revealed inconsistencies.
The reporters questions for Sam Brinton are hilarious 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/B7hHclWTBP
— Angry Frog ™ (@angrifrog) February 16, 2023
In the interview, Brinton claims that Brinton’s mother eventually realized the beatings did not change his attractions, which then lead to Brinton’s enrollment in conversion therapy. Brinton claims that the abuse Brinton endured in conversion therapy included electrocution and needles jammed into Brinton’s fingers.
Although Brinton has shared specific details of the alleged abuse, Brinton has not revealed the name of the therapy center or the therapist, claiming to be unable to recall them due to trauma.
“There’s no validity to those claims,” Rachel, Brinton’s sister, told the New York Post. “First of all, the claims of conversion therapy never happened, nor did my parents abuse my brother or I. My parents and I have always known the truth but we don’t preach to people what the truth is. It’s disheartening because my parents are still being slandered for the past decade because some people believed Samuel’s words.”