FBI Director Kash Patel announces arrests of two over 2023 testimony
The Oct. 23 edition of The Wall Street Journal’s What’s News newsletter carried tariff changes, the Alaska lawsuit, federal arrests, drone-connectivity failures in Ukraine, congressional leadership plans, media-ratings data, a proposed three-way summit over Ukraine and a cultural trend piece. According to the newsletter, the lawsuit asks a court to delay finalization of Alaska’s Senate contest, citing the potential for voter confusion because the ballot there includes retiree Dan J. Sullivan Jr. in addition to the Republican incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, who is in an extremely close race with Democratic challenger Mary Peltola. The request would delay the contest’s finalization if the votes cast for Dan J. Sullivan Jr. are sufficient to potentially change the outcome.
The same edition reported that prosecutors allege Nikki Floris, 46, and Bradley Benavides, 56, lied in 2023 during a Republican-led congressional investigation into whether federal law enforcement had been “weaponized” against the GOP. Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel announced their arrests; Patel promised prosecutions of bureau agents and analysts if he ever got the top job. Lawyers for Floris said the charges were a transparent attempt to “push a false narrative for a shot at political points,” and Benavides’s legal team said the charges were baseless and disgraceful.
Ukrainian drone units and government officials said connections with Starshield, a military-grade service using Starlink’s infrastructure, continued to fail in most of the country when drones flew faster than 161 kilometers an hour, equivalent to around 100 miles an hour, the newsletter reported. It couldn’t be determined why drone speeds were still limited, and SpaceX didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
House Democratic Party leaders and candidates in competitive districts have avoided committing to a third impeachment of Trump if they flip the GOP-led chamber, seeing it as potentially counterproductive, according to the report. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said lawmakers are “ready to go after Hegseth as soon as they can,” with a vote likely next month while Republicans are still in charge and another attempt next year, when Democrats hope they will control the chamber.
A Wall Street Journal analysis of thousands of TikTok videos, podcast episodes, cable-news segments and TV ads running in the most competitive congressional races found that videos disputing Trump’s economic claims outnumber supportive ones about 16 to one. Republican ads in close races barely mention him when they talk about the economy, the analysis found.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed a three-way summit with President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported. Trump has since said he is open to meeting with Putin and Xi, though he has pointed instead to denuclearization as a possible focus.
In the newsletter’s analysis, chief China correspondent Lingling Wei said China is Russia’s economic lifeline, buying its oil and providing the plumbing that lets Moscow survive Western sanctions, and is also America’s biggest geopolitical rival. Xi’s presence would elevate Putin’s standing, making the Russian leader look like an equal in a great-power conversation rather than an isolated aggressor, while bringing in the one player with clout over both sides to underwrite whatever deal might emerge.
Wei said hosting such a trilateral summit on Chinese soil would be the most dramatic demonstration yet of China’s arrival as a superpower on par with the U.S., but the risk is also real. Some top European officials have told the Journal they believe China is comfortable with a protracted war because it drains Western resources while deepening Russia’s dependence on Beijing. A summit that appears to reward Russia would confirm those suspicions and accelerate the deterioration of China’s relationship with Europe at a moment when Xi’s struggling economy can least afford it.
Wei added that Beijing has long resisted nuclear arms-control talks for a specific reason: China is far behind. The U.S. and Russia each have thousands of warheads, and China has a fraction of that. From Beijing’s perspective, joining trilateral arms control would essentially freeze its arsenal at a level of permanent inferiority, making China very likely to object to the agenda if nuclear arms control becomes the focus.
Three things need to align for the summit to happen, Wei said. Washington has to decide whether Trump actually wants to do this, and on what terms; the three sides need to agree on an agenda that doesn’t embarrass any of them; and a meeting that explicitly cuts Ukraine out would provoke a fierce backlash, which Beijing knows. She said she is watching Beijing’s diplomatic signaling in the next two to three weeks, whether it starts preparing the ground with Washington or lets Moscow do the pushing. If Beijing stays silent, it probably means China likes the concept but isn’t yet willing to spend political capital making it happen.
According to ratings agency Nielsen, nearly a quarter of Americans watched at least one “Seinfeld” episode in the first eight months of 2026, the newsletter reported. The Wall Street Journal noted that the decision to take the show off NBC’s airwaves in May 1998 after its nine-season run contributes to its relevance today, three decades after it aired.
The newsletter also reported that, across the U.S., private clubs of all pedigrees — golf, country, city or yacht — are shedding old-money stiffness and rebuilding as multigenerational family playgrounds. The sacred silence of formal dining rooms is being drowned out by bowling alleys and frozen-margarita machines, according to the report.
The newsletter’s lead item covered tariff changes that take effect Oct. 30. According to documents posted on the White House website, duties will be removed from some products used in agriculture, including certain machinery and refrigeration products, packaging and plywood sheets, while a 50% tariff will be placed on other Canadian goods, including carpet, certain valves and waste products. The Wall Street Journal described the changes as a bid to help Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and other Republicans in the coming midterm elections.