Justice Department probes alleged effort to run namesake against Sen. Sullivan

U.S. weighs resuming major combat operations; Gulf states told to prepare

In its Oct. 29 “What’s News” newsletter, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Justice Department sent dozens of new grand jury subpoenas seeking information about an alleged effort to recruit an independent challenger with the same name as Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, according to people familiar with the matter. A department official said prosecutors are exploring whether to bring charges alleging a conspiracy to violate voters’ rights. Federal prosecutors in Alaska and the Justice Department’s civil rights division are leading the probe.

The newsletter said the meeting was a rare in-person visit to the White House for Adm. Brad Cooper as the U.S. weighs resuming major combat operations, according to U.S. officials and other people with direct knowledge of the meeting. The top-level gathering included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine. Trump officials have told Arab Gulf states to be prepared for a short, intense campaign after the midterm elections, the Journal has reported. Vance has also engaged one of Iran’s most powerful hard-liners in an effort to revive peace negotiators.

On the economy, the newsletter said the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio was up from 99.4% at the end of fiscal 2025, though below the Congressional Budget Office’s February forecast of 100.6%. The U.S. is moving steadily closer to breaking the 1946 record of 106%, an increase that reflected the heavy borrowing needed to win World War II. The Commerce Department said U.S. GDP rose at a 3.4% annual rate in the third quarter, the fastest pace in a year. The economic growth was driven by a surge in business investment from the AI build-out and healthy consumer spending.

The newsletter also reported that the source of an issue involving Polymarket was a security flaw in DebugBear, a performance-monitoring vendor used on the site, according to a person familiar with the matter. Polymarket has referred the issue to law enforcement in the U.K., where DebugBear is based, the person said. A wallet belonging to a suspected attacker appeared to show more than $2.5 million in funds drawn from Polymarket user accounts and transferred in more than 900 transactions, according to a WSJ review of wallet activity. DebugBear didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Amazon reported net income for the three months through September; overall revenue increased 12% to $201.9 billion, and both were below analysts’ estimates polled by FactSet. Despite reporting the biggest growth in its cloud computing business in years, shares of Amazon dropped around 5% in after-hours trading.

Comma.ai, which makes a legal aftermarket device to enable hands-free driving, said the tech works on more than 350 vehicle models dating back to 2014. But some drivers have fallen asleep or slammed into stopped vehicles while using the device, according to police and incident reports viewed by the Journal. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating Comma.ai after at least five crashes were tied to its hands-free driving device.

The newsletter also recapped the Oct. 29 slide in Alphabet’s shares, reporting that the 13% drop was driven by discontent with the Google parent’s quarterly results. The decline weighed on major U.S. stock indexes, fueled a drop in the Nasdaq composite and amplified fears that the costs of the global AI build-out may be outrunning the returns. Alphabet reported the prior day that its Google Services unit missed analyst expectations, signaling that Google’s biggest revenue engine is slowing as AI reshapes how consumers search for information and products.

The newsletter said it had asked readers whether the U.S. should restart peace talks with Iran and carried four responses, with a note that responses have been condensed and edited:

Jeff Weise of Massachusetts: “Absolutely yes! The present situation is accomplishing nothing of value, is only making a bad worldwide supply situation worse and is unnecessarily dragging many other countries into the fray. It is painfully obvious that America miscalculated, or never calculated the consequences of losing, and is now incapable of achieving a long-lasting military solution.”

Naval Modani of Florida: “Short answer: heck no. It would be a waste of time. The Iranians are trying to run out the clock on the Trump presidency.”

Council Mattoon of Kansas: “No. The U.S. should admit defeat and help rebuild Iran. We had no business starting this war and it has caused worldwide suffering.”

Jim Parker of Texas: “No, what’s the point if they refuse to give up their nuclear enrichment program?”

In a lighter item, the newsletter described The Cheesecake Factory as kitschy, gaudy and over-the-top, transcending the constraints of both diet and design. Rick McCormack, who helped design the chain’s first restaurants, credits founder David Overton for “tuning into what mainstream America likes.” Those instincts helped make it the highest-grossing major restaurant chain by average unit volume, according to a 2026 report from market-research firm Circana.