Sherman blasts Trump’s Saudi nuclear deal as “profoundly disturbing”
U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks, Encino, Woodland Hills, Northridge, Malibu and Pacific Palisades), a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued a sharp rebuke of the Trump administration’s proposed U.S.-Saudi Arabia nuclear cooperation agreement, warning it paves the way for a nuclear-armed Saudi Arabia.
Sherman said he reviewed both the unclassified and classified portions of the proposed Section 123 Agreement, and found the classified portion included a page labeled “to be filled in later,” which he said means the administration has not submitted the agreement for the full review required under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954.
Sherman said the deal excludes the “Gold Standard” and Additional Protocol safeguards typically used to prevent nuclear technology from being diverted toward weapons development, and explicitly allows uranium enrichment on Saudi soil under conditions that only the president, not Congress, would determine have been met.
“This deal claims to facilitate peaceful nuclear technology for Saudi Arabia but intentionally excludes the very safeguards that determine whether or not a country with nuclear technology can use it to build nuclear weapons: the Gold Standard and Additional Protocol. Not only that, but this agreement explicitly allows uranium enrichment on Saudi soil under certain conditions. And only President Trump, not Congress, will determine if those vague conditions have been met,” said Sherman.
Sherman pointed to Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman’s stated intentions to pursue nuclear weapons and a previously undeclared, Chinese-backed yellowcake-extraction facility in Saudi Arabia, and drew a parallel to the U.S. providing nuclear technology to Iran under a friendly government in the 1970s, technology that fell into the Ayatollah’s hands after the 1979 revolution.
“This should not be a Democratic or Republican issue. This is about American national security, and the United States’ longstanding bipartisan commitments to non-proliferation,” said Sherman, who called on members of both parties to reject the deal with a Joint Resolution of Disapproval until the safeguards are added.
ASM Rodriguez lands $2M for Valley immigration legal services hub
Assemblymember Celeste Rodriguez (D-San Fernando, Arleta, Sun Valley, Sylmar, Pacoima, Panorama City, North Hollywood, Valley Glen, Lake View Terrace, Mission Hills, North Hills) announced this week that she secured $2 million in state funding to expand the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights’ (CHIRLA) immigration legal services hub in the San Fernando Valley.
The funding will expand CHIRLA’s existing Pacoima satellite office, which has served more than 2,000 community members over the past two years, reducing the need for Valley families to travel to Downtown Los Angeles for legal help.
According to an LA County report, communities within Rodriguez’s Assembly District 43 are among the most impacted and vulnerable to ICE enforcement operations and related economic hardship in the county.
“Families in my district are being targeted by aggressive federal immigration enforcement that is intended to spread terror and disruption throughout our neighborhoods. People who have built their lives here, who work here, raise their children here, and contribute to our communities are being made to feel in a constant state of threat and danger in the place they call home. They deserve more than our words of support, they deserve to know that when they need help, there is somewhere in their own community they can turn to,” said Rodriguez.
The funding will add attorneys, paralegals and administrative staff to expand services including legal consultations, adjustment of status, DACA renewals, naturalization applications, U-visa applications, VAWA petitions, and removal defense representation.
It will also fund a new mobile legal services clinic to bring assistance directly into neighborhoods through partnerships with libraries, schools, colleges and churches.
Rivas presses for accountability on wildfire communications failures
U.S. Rep. Luz Rivas (D-San Fernando, Pacoima, Arleta, Panorama City, Sylmar, Van Nuys, Sun Valley, North Hollywood) introduced the Telecommunications Gaps in Accountability and Performance Act this week, requiring federal review of whether wireless carriers’ disaster-response commitments held up during last year’s LA wildfires.
The bill would direct the Government Accountability Office to evaluate the effectiveness of the Mandatory Disaster Response Initiative, the FCC’s framework governing wireless providers’ roaming assistance and mutual aid commitments during disasters. It will also include a specific analysis of carrier performance during the January 2025 Palisades, Eaton and Hurst fires.
Rivas’s office said connectivity failures during those fires directly affected evacuations, emergency response coordination, and public safety communications, and that Congress has never comprehensively evaluated the initiative following a large-scale disaster.
“During the January 2025 wildfires, families across Los Angeles experienced firsthand how quickly communications can fail when they need them most. When an evacuation order comes, people must be able to rely on their phones and wireless networks to get alerts, reach loved ones, and hear from first responders,” said Rivas.
“My Telecommunications GAP Act ensures Congress has a clear, independent assessment of what worked during last year’s wildfires across L.A. County, as well an analysis to close any gaps in disaster communications systems to better protect people and their homes. A resilient and reliable telecommunications infrastructure is key to keeping our communities safe, especially as wildfires and climate-driven disasters become more intense,” the lawmaker added.
Hochman: Lomita man threatened to “shoot up” Jewish center
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman announced this week that a Lomita man previously granted diversion for a prior gun case has been held to answer on felony hate crime charges after allegedly threatening to shoot up a Jewish Community Center in Redondo Beach, including hundreds of children.
Paul Dean Andrews, 43, pleaded not guilty to felony counts of violating civil rights as a hate crime, making criminal threats to a school, and attempted criminal threats.
Prosecutors say Andrews called the Redondo Beach JCC on Aug. 11 and 13, making antisemitic statements, and during one call allegedly told an executive, “Get out of the neighborhood. I know where you guys are. I know you are on Vail Avenue. I know there are a whole bunch of kids there. I am going to come up and shoot up the place.”
“This defendant was given an opportunity to confront his bias and change his behavior after his previous felony case, but instead he chose not to and allegedly threatened to shoot up a Jewish community center. Hate crimes have no place in our community. My office will not tolerate threats motivated by hatred and individuals who choose to engage in hate-driven crimes will be held fully accountable,” said Hochman.
In a 2023 case, Andrews was charged with assault with a semiautomatic firearm and discharge of a firearm with gross negligence. A judge granted him diversion in 2024 on condition he complete an anti-bias program through the Museum of Tolerance.
Instead, prosecutors say Andrews called the Museum of Tolerance and a local Jewish temple that same year, leaving antisemitic voicemails, including telling the museum, “You’ll never be real Americans. All Jews need to hang from trees.” A court found Andrews violated his diversion and sentenced him to 16 months in state prison; he was released on parole, which expired in June.
Andrews was held to answer Sept. 1 in Torrance, with his arraignment set for Sept. 16. His bail remains at $275,000, and he faces up to nine years, four months in state prison if convicted as charged.
