Good morning. This briefing covers government, court and international developments from the past day, drawn from official releases, court filings and wire reporting. Where a claim rests on anonymous sourcing or a single outlet, it is labeled that way. Charges and allegations described below are unproven unless a court has ruled.
Government
Conflicting accounts on who limited Ukraine’s Starshield access
The Trump administration has offered differing explanations about who restricted Ukraine’s use of Starshield, SpaceX’s military version of Starlink, according to an Associated Press report published October 23. Ukrainian commanders reported lost drones and disrupted missions last week. President Trump has said he did not order the limits, and said on Thursday that the service was again running at full speed. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration did not direct any throttling, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, “We haven’t pulled anything back,” while pointing to terms of service that Ukraine must follow.
Elon Musk posted on October 14 that the U.S. government and military control Starshield and that the president ultimately decides its limits, per AP. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told U.S. lawmakers on Monday that speed restrictions still affected parts of the front. The accounts differ, and the public record does not yet establish who made the decision. The episode matters because Starshield is central to Ukrainian drone operations and communications, and the question of command authority over a commercial contractor’s military service is one Congress is likely to press.
Justice Department finds Ohio State medical school discriminated in admissions
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced a finding on October 21 that the Ohio State University College of Medicine discriminated against white and Asian applicants for its 2023, 2024 and 2025 incoming classes. The department said that among applicants who were screened and interviewed, Black applicants were about 2.8 times as likely to be admitted as Asian applicants with equal credentials. It also described a “side door” pathway in which, across 2024 and 2025, Black applicants were four times as likely as white applicants to be admitted, and no Asian applicants were admitted.
The department cited Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. It said it will seek a negotiated settlement and file suit if talks fail. This is a government finding, not a court judgment, and the release does not set a response deadline. TIJ has not seen a response from the university and will report one if provided.
DOJ and USDA announce a national SNAP fraud enforcement surge
The Justice Department said in an October 21 release that a surge running from September 1 to October 21 produced actions against more than 40 defendants, with intended losses of nearly $45 million, nearly $42 million of it tied to SNAP. The department described it as its first national USDA benefits and program fraud surge. Thirteen U.S. Attorney’s Offices took part, along with the USDA Office of Inspector General and other agencies.
Readers should note the figures are “intended” or estimated losses rather than confirmed losses, and the department’s own release says that an indictment or complaint is only an allegation and that defendants are presumed innocent. The largest listed case, an Ohio indictment alleging a scheme that used stolen EBT information, carries an estimated $29.7 million loss. Several cases remain pending.
Instacart settles federal hiring-discrimination claims for $5 million
The Civil Rights Division and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced a joint settlement on October 20 with Instacart, which operates as Maplebear Inc. The agencies alleged the company preferred workers on temporary visas during the Permanent Labor Certification process and required paper applications for those positions, so that many U.S. applicants were not timely considered. The settlement includes up to $4 million for affected applicants and a $1 million civil penalty.
Instacart must also post these positions publicly, accept electronic applications, train staff and submit to monitoring. Settlements of this kind typically resolve allegations without an admission of liability, and the department’s release is the source for the allegations described here.
Ten House bills signed into law
The White House announced on October 20 that the President signed ten House bills: H.R. 227, 837, 1721, 2388, 2481, 3620, 4307, 4467, 6380 and 7831. The announcement lists bill numbers only. Readers who want to know what these measures do should consult the text on Congress.gov, since TIJ has not independently reviewed each bill.
Courts
Justices leave transgender inmate policy block in place
The Supreme Court on October 21 declined to pause a lower-court order that prevents the Bureau of Prisons from implementing a February 2026 policy restricting certain healthcare for transgender inmates. The case is Trump v. Kingdom, No. 26A416. Senior U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth blocked the policy on August 26 in a class action, and a divided D.C. Circuit panel declined to freeze his order. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas would have granted the administration’s request, according to SCOTUSblog.
The unsigned order gave no reasoning. The ruling is an interim step on the emergency docket and does not decide the policy’s legality on the merits, which will continue in the lower courts.
Administration asks Supreme Court to allow Big Bend border wall construction
Solicitor General D. John Sauer returned to the Court on October 21 asking it to pause an order barring Homeland Security from continuing wall construction in the Big Bend region. The case is Mullin v. Friends of the Ruidosa Church, No. 26A560. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone in El Paso issued the restriction on October 2 and a written opinion on October 14, finding the challengers likely to prevail on a claim that the Homeland Security Secretary lacked authority, under the major questions doctrine, to issue the environmental waivers.
The administration also asks the Court to grant review and summarily reverse. Sauer argues the claim is statutory rather than constitutional, so the district court lacked power to hear it, and that Congress clearly authorized barriers and waivers. SCOTUSblog reports no response deadline yet.
Court takes up race and magnet-school admissions
On October 19 the Court agreed to hear Association for Education Fairness v. Montgomery County Board of Education, No. 26-12. The question is what a plaintiff must show to challenge a facially neutral admissions policy as racially discriminatory, including whether the affected group must show an aggregate disparate impact. Plaintiffs, mostly Asian-American parents, argue the Maryland county’s magnet-school policy was meant to reduce Asian-American enrollment. The Fourth Circuit upheld dismissal in February. Argument is expected in early 2027.
Federal home-distilling ban goes to the justices
The Court also granted review on October 19 in Department of Justice v. McNutt, No. 26-204, which tests the constitutionality of an 1868 ban on home distilleries. The Fifth Circuit held the ban exceeds Congress’s taxing and necessary-and-proper powers, while the Sixth Circuit reached the opposite conclusion in Ream v. Department of the Treasury. A decision is expected by late June or early July 2027.
Judge orders Trump deposition in BBC defamation suit
U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjolique Lett on October 22 ordered President Trump to sit for a deposition in his $10 billion defamation suit against the BBC by December 11, according to AP reporting. Failure to appear could bring sanctions, up to dismissal, unless the presiding judge extends discovery, which closes December 18. The BBC has acknowledged that a documentary spliced together portions of Trump’s January 6, 2021 speech and has apologized, but denies defaming him.
The judge also ordered the Justice Department to tell the court by November 2 whether it will authorize former special counsel Jack Smith to testify under a BBC subpoena. Trump’s lawyers argue Smith lacks personal knowledge of Trump’s state of mind. The case is pending, and no finding of liability has been made.
$25 billion penalty against Meta in New Mexico
A Santa Fe state judge, Francis Mathew, ordered Meta to pay a $25 billion civil penalty on October 21, according to Bloomberg reporting. A September jury found Meta violated state consumer protection law more than 43 million times based on public statements about hate speech and user data. The penalty exceeds the state’s projected fiscal 2028 general fund revenue and by law must go to school construction. Meta’s chief legal officer said the company is confident it will prevail on appeal.
International
Strikes continue as Russia says it will resume U.S.-mediated talks
Russia fired at least 21 ballistic missiles at Kyiv in three waves overnight, Ukraine said, with Zelenskyy saying three carried cluster munitions; Russia said Ukraine launched 630 drones toward Moscow, per Reuters reporting. Russia said Wednesday it was ready to resume U.S.-mediated talks next month after Vladimir Putin met U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff in St. Petersburg. Zelenskyy hopes for talks in early November, which would be the first since February.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said U.S. signals contained “new nuances” that “do not entirely satisfy us.” A source close to the Kremlin told Reuters the U.S. proposals included Ukraine ceding all of Donbas in exchange for NATO security guarantees; that claim is unconfirmed by either government.
U.S. accuses Russian satellite of dangerous maneuvering
Thomas DiNanno, the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, said on October 21 that Russia’s Cosmos 2612 satellite maneuvered dangerously close to a commercial satellite, behavior he called “consistent with on-orbit weapons operations,” according to ANI reporting. Fox News reported the target was a U.S.-Finnish radar satellite; that detail is attributed to Fox, not the State Department. Russia’s response was not included in the report reviewed.
Houthi attacks and Gulf shipping risks lift oil prices
Brent crude rose 1.2% to $110.11 a barrel after Houthi strikes in Saudi Arabia killed at least three people, per Reuters. The U.S. ordered some diplomats’ family members to leave Saudi missions, and Kpler recorded at least 18 attacks on shipping in two weeks. The Energy Department is offering to loan part of the emergency heating oil reserve to contain diesel prices.
Reported U.S.-Israeli planning on Iran remains unconfirmed
The New York Times reported, as relayed by Business Standard, that the U.S. and Israeli militaries drafted plans for a short operation against Iranian energy, nuclear and missile sites, relying on anonymous officials. A White House official declined to comment on plans “that may or may not exist.” No operation has been confirmed. Iranian officials issued threats, which are unverified.
Treasury targets Iran “shadow fleet” facilitators
The State Department said on October 21 that Treasury sanctioned a network of a professional services firm, five individuals, a ship manager operating seven Panama-flagged vessels, and shipping agents in Singapore and Dubai, under Executive Order 13902. The department alleges the network concealed vessel ownership for Iranian oil sales that benefited the IRGC-Qods Force and the Houthis. Designated parties may seek removal through Treasury’s process.
Worth Watching
TIJ did not locate a verified docket calendar for today in the sources reviewed, so the following are dated items from the reporting above.
Next few days: Israel’s October 27 election, which analysts quoted by the New York Times said could affect the timing of any Iran decisions. Early November: possible resumption of U.S.-mediated Russia-Ukraine talks. November 2: the Justice Department’s deadline to respond on Jack Smith’s testimony. Pending any day: the Court’s handling of the Big Bend border wall application. December 9: argument in Department of Homeland Security v. D.V.D., No. 26-426, the third-country removal case; SCOTUSblog’s analysis expects it may turn on procedural questions. December 11: deadline for Trump’s BBC deposition. December 14-15: the G20 summit in Miami, where Zelenskyy said in September he would meet Putin if he attends, per LIGA.net.
Right of reply: TIJ invites responses from any person or organization named above and will update this briefing with substantive replies. Contact the editor at tij.news. Eduardo Bacci, Editor, The Investigative Journal.