A fraud expert who testified before the House Oversight Committee Wednesday warned the federal government lacks the tools and policies needed to prevent criminals from using artificial intelligence against taxpayers.

«What’s happening right now is the fact that we simply don’t have the right tools to deal with fraud,» David Maimon, head of Fraud Insights at SentiLink, told Fox News Digital.

«We don’t have the right policies to deal with fraud. We don’t have enough deterrence. We have no close collaboration between the government and the [private] sector to try and find the right solution to this issue.»

The hearing, titled «Emerging Fraud Threats and the Evolving Fraud Landscape,» was held by the Government Operations Subcommittee as the Trump administration wages a nationwide «War on Fraud,» led by Vice President JD Vance, and focused on how the federal government can better detect and prevent emerging fraud threats through stronger digital identity verification.

ALLEGED FEEDING OUR FUTURE FRAUD RINGLEADER TRANSFERRED FROM SOMALIA TO FACE US CHARGES

«Fraud against government programs is no longer a series of isolated schemes,» Maimon told lawmakers during the hearing. «It is a durable, specialized criminal infrastructure.»

He also told lawmakers that «criminals exploit the seams between agencies precisely because our defenses are built program by program, while their infrastructure is built to move across all of them.»

Maimon highlighted how his company has collected intelligence to «understand how the criminals work, what they do, and how they do what they do,» while uncovering networks where fraudsters share stolen information and tactics.

«We were able to infiltrate thousands of markets where fraudsters are operating, where you can find identities and stolen checks, you can find tutorials of how to engage in fraud against the government or target financial institutions across the country,» he said.

One of the biggest challenges, he said, is keeping pace with rapidly evolving fraud tactics.

«The most important thing is to make sure that the government is aware of some of the fraud trends we’re seeing out there that fraudsters are engaging in, essentially stealing taxpayers’ money,» Maimon said.

Maimon said the government’s slow deployment of fraud-fighting tools allows criminals to «take advantage of these opportunities» and «continue to exploit» resources.

«The bad guys are moving faster than the government,» he said. «While the government is still trying to catch up and roll out better tools, criminals keep finding new ways to steal money.»

Criminals are now using AI to create fake documents, videos, and phishing emails that steal passwords and personal information or bypass identity verification, according to Maimon.

«It’s difficult to prove that you’re not essentially using AI while verifying your identity with documents and liveness tests and selfie images,» he said.

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Vice President JD Vance speaks next to Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Mehmet Oz about combating fraud at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., Feb. 25, 2026. (REUTERS)

During the hearing, Maimon said that fraudsters are already using «AI-generated faces and deepfake video to defeat liveness checks at digital banks and tax preparers.»

Pointing to his earlier investigation of Medicaid fraud, Maimon said his team discovered providers that had billed the government about $2 million and claimed to have staff and caregivers, but when investigators visited the addresses in person, many of the employees and operations didn’t exist.

«Sometimes you need to take a look at signals that appear in the database, but also at the physical location,» he said.

Instead of relying on a picture or video, Maimon said the government should verify identities using trusted historical data that is harder for AI to fake.

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David Maimon, head of Fraud Insights at SentiLink, testifies before the House Oversight Committee’s Government Operations Subcommittee during a hearing on emerging fraud threats on July 15, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (House Oversight Subcommittee)

«In order to make sure that we address this issue, and it really depends on the type of fraud that you’re dealing with, but to address this issue in a more effective way, maybe we need to have some historical signals around identities we’re trying to verify, rather than just looking at images that could be created easily by AI tools,» he said.

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Maimon told lawmakers the fraud affects more than the government’s finances, ultimately hurting the people these programs are designed to serve, saying «Every dollar we protect from organized fraud is a dollar that stays available for the people Congress intended to help.

But after years of studying dark web and Telegram marketplaces, Maimon said law enforcement has uncovered only a fraction of organized fraud.

«I think they’re just scratching the surface.»

El tapiz de Bayeux llegó al Museo Británico de Londres tras casi un milenio fuera de la tierra donde fue creado, y su despliegue equirió 18 horas de trabajo sostenido por un centenar de conservadores franceses y británicos. La bordadura medieval, de 70 metros de largo, abandonó Francia por primera vez en siglos para protagonizar una de las exposiciones más esperadas en la historia del museo.

Según informó The Times, el proceso de extracción del tapiz de su caja de transporte se llevó a cabo el jueves a puerta cerrada, en una operación de 27 etapas que un testigo calificó como “hipnótica”. El silencio reinó en la sala, interrumpido únicamente por los comandos en francés del líder del grupo: “uno, dos, tres, tac”, que marcaban cada movimiento mínimo. Millie Horton-Insch, experta en bordado y curadora de la exposición, describió el proceso como “dolorosamente lento” y expresó su “más profunda admiración” por los colegas que se ofrecieron como voluntarios.

El viernes por la mañana, Catherine Pégard, ministra de Cultura de Francia, recorrió la galería del Museo Británico para conocer el espacio que albergará la obra. La acompañaron George Osborne, presidente del Museo Británico, y Michael Lewis, curador de la exposición, quien se mostró “aliviado” al comprobar que el tapiz había “viajado bien” sin “señales evidentes de daño”. Algunas secciones de la bordadura, que narra en 58 escenas la conquista normanda de Inglaterra en 1066, fueron descubiertas ante los visitantes. La escena de la flecha en el ojo del rey Harold, no obstante, permaneció cubierta.

La operación de despliegue implicó primero extender a lo largo de toda la galería el “paravent” plegable que había permitido transportar el tapiz en forma de acordeón desde el oeste de Francia, guardado en un doble estuche diseñado para limitar vibraciones y mantener niveles constantes de temperatura y humedad. Luego, la pieza fue transferida a una viga de poleas y alineada con las mesas móviles de la vitrina. Stijn Verstraete, director general de la empresa belga Meyvaert y creador de la vitrina de dos millones de libras esterlinas (más de 2.600.000 de dólares), describió el conjunto como “una obra de arte performativa y coreografiada”. La vitrina, compuesta por 25 módulos —cada uno con el peso de un automóvil familiar pequeño—, forma una unidad herméticamente sellada, a prueba de golpes, impermeable, insonorizada y con mínima reflectividad.

De acuerdo con The Times, el lunes los conservadores completarán el alisado de las “barrigas” —pliegues y arrugas del tejido— antes de que las mesas sean introducidas en la vitrina y se reconecten los dispositivos Miniclima que regulan la humedad. El personal del museo y sus colegas franceses, que permanecerán en el Museo Británico hasta mediados de agosto, continuarán la revisión del estado de la pieza durante las próximas semanas. Unas 20 cámaras de seguridad vigilarán la obra a lo largo de toda su extensión.

Catherine Pégard calificó el préstamo como “un momento muy importante en la historia de nuestros dos países” y aseguró que el tapiz “llegó en excelente estado”. Describió el traslado como una “empresa titánica” y una “hazaña técnica”, y destacó que las preocupaciones de los conservadores franceses sobre los riesgos del traslado habían sido disipadas por el trabajo conjunto de los equipos a lo largo del último año. “La pericia, el trabajo de los científicos, el logro técnico del transporte, la construcción del cajón, la construcción de la vitrina: todos los pasos que hemos superado durante este año han despejado las dudas sobre la legitimidad de presentar el tapiz al público británico”, declaró.

La ministra también abordó la expectativa generada en torno a otros préstamos de obras maestras francesas. Descartó de plano cualquier posibilidad de que la Mona Lisa cruce el Canal de la Mancha en un futuro próximo. Señaló que el préstamo de la obra de Leonardo da Vinci a Estados Unidos en los años sesenta respondió a “un momento muy particular de la historia franco-estadounidense”, propiciado por la relación entre los presidentes Charles de Gaulle y John F. Kennedy, y que la esposa de este último, Jackie Kennedy, sedujo al entonces ministro de Cultura, André Malraux, en una cena en la Casa Blanca. La pintura también fue prestada a Japón en 1974.

El tapiz, que tiene 627 personajes y 737 animales representados en hilo de lana sobre lino, fue creada con toda probabilidad en los alrededores de Canterbury en la década de 1070. Su historia de custodia es azarosa: permaneció durante siglos en un cofre de madera en la sacristía de la catedral de Bayeux; en la década de 1790, tras la Revolución Francesa, estuvo a punto de ser cortada para fabricar lonas de carros militares; y durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial fue trasladada primero al sótano de un hotel y luego al Museo del Louvre por orden de los nazis.

La exposición, que se inaugurará el 10 de septiembre y se extenderá hasta el 11 de julio de 2027, ya acumula 100.000 entradas vendidas para sus primeros cuatro meses. El curador Michael Lewis adelantó que la muestra incluirá proyecciones visuales de pequeñas áreas del tapiz y “algo de sonido” con el propósito de “dar vida” a la obra. El curador advirtió que muchos visitantes asumen que el tapiz trata exclusivamente sobre la batalla de Hastings, cuando en realidad esas escenas representan solo el último tercio de la pieza. “Hay muchos eventos previos. Algunos serán familiares para la gente y otros no, y eso tendrá que explicarse para ayudarles a comprenderlo”, señaló. Osborne informó a la ministra francesa que un millón de personas visitarán la exposición en total, entre ellas el presidente de Francia Emmanuel Macron y el rey Carlos III, quienes la inaugurarán oficialmente en septiembre. El museo prevé recibir alrededor de 300 visitantes por hora, con entradas que alcanzan un precio máximo de 33 libras esterlinas (unos 44 dólares) por una visita de 40 minutos.

Con información de: AFP

[Fotos: Toby Shepheard / AFP]

Former Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., is campaigning to return to Congress alongside a self-described Maoist activist and political organizer whose online videos and social media rhetoric has included urging leftists not to disavow Hamas or Hezbollah, has included calls to «unmake» America, applauded burning the American flag and endorsed political violence.

The activist, Christopher Winston, has built an online presence across numerous platforms under the pseudonym «BlackRedGuard,» posting and appearing in videos about «Maoist organizing in DSA,» attacking leftists who say they do not support «Hezbollah/Hamas» and using rhetoric that appeared to condone political violence. In one video reviewed by Fox News Digital, Winston asked, «What’s wrong with throwing molotovs at a police station?» 

Bush, an ousted Squad Democrat mounting a comeback bid in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, appeared in a recent social media post standing right beside Winston as he participated in supporting her campaign. 

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Fox News Digital asked Bush’s campaign whether Winston has any formal or informal role with the campaign, whether Bush knows him personally and whether he was invited to the event, but the campaign did not answer those questions, instead sending a link to a Fox News article about Joy Behar, co-host of «The View,» defending democratic socialism, noting it «should clear up any questions you have about DSA.»

«If you say sh– like ‘I don’t support Hezbollah/Hamas’ and call yourself a leftist you lame. All power to all the resistance. Peace through the sword,» Winston, a St. Louis-area activist working with the DSA said in his social media post shaming those on the left who condemn Hamas and Hezbollah.

Other posts from Winston called to «unmake» America and said the American flag «should always be desecrated.» 

«Do not fix America. Unmake it,» a June 2025 post from Winston’s X account said. 

«I applaud the burning of the American flag. That flag is a symbol of the slavery and genocide which built America. It should always be desecrated in that way,» a separate 2024 post from Winston said. 

Meanwhile, during a 2024 video posted on YouTube titled «Debating Commie Gobbledegook (Ft. Black Red Guard),» Winston is asked why, as a Maoist, he chooses to be a part of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). 

 «Well, it’s obvious why I’m a Maoist in the DSA. There’s a lot of naive young white people to brainwash,» he said.

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Fox News Digital reached out to Winston and the DSA for comment on Winston’s remarks and affiliation with the group, but did not hear back.

Members of the Democratic Socialists of America gather outside of a Trump owned building during a May Day rally in New York City in 2019. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

At another point during the same video, Winston questions «what’s wrong with throwing Molotov cocktails at a police station?» 

When his co-host tried to check him, replying that doing such would be «an easy way to get your whole organization, like, kind of destroyed,» Winston shot back: «That’s why we want the masses to do it.»

He later argued that if the goal is a «socialist» or «communist» revolution, «people are not going to pick up a gun and fight» for something they do not understand, adding that activists must «teach people what communism is.»

A Fox News Digital review of Winston’s X account found several social media posts praising Bush, including a 2023 post where he said, «Yeah, I’m a Maoist ultra with dreams of riding into power on a tank like Fidel and Che but in the meantime Cori Bush is the best congressperson right now and we need to back her.»

«Cori Bush is the best of STL, and DSA,» Winston said in May at a Bush campaign event.

«Cori Bush is running for Congress again. STL-DSA voted to endorse her overwhelmingly. Help beat the AIPAC money that stole her seat here,» Winston said last year.

Winston’s appearance alongside Bush is not the first time her political orbit has drawn scrutiny over hard-left activists and anti-Israel figures. Her comeback bid has already faced questions over campaign spending and alliances that critics say show the same activist network is helping power her effort to return to Washington.

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Earlier this year, Fox News Digital reported that Bush’s comeback campaign paid more than $20,000 to «Unbought Power,» a consulting firm publicly linked to far-left activist Rasha Mubarak, whose ties to Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s political operation had already drawn scrutiny. 

Mubarak has close ties to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), «which was an unindicted co-conspirator in the 2009 Holy Land Foundation terror-financing trial,» according to the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy, and has publicly called to «abolish the police,» backed defund-the-police efforts and repeatedly accused Israel of «ethnic cleansing» and «apartheid.»

United States Representatives Rashida Tlaib (2nd L), Cori Bush (L) hold a banner demanding a ceasefire and condemning the Israeli attacks on Gaza, in front of U.S. Capitol in United States on November 8, 2023. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)

«Mubarak has also been a speaker at events held by the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR), an organization that promoted the BDS movement,» the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy noted in a report.  «Previously, in September 2023, she served as the press contact for the Arizona-based non-profit Alliance for Global Justice (AFGJ), which was investigated for ties to Samidoun, an anti-Israel advocacy group banned in Germany, Canada, and Israel and classified as a terrorist entity in the United States for financing the PFLP.»

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In her prior campaigns for Congress, Bush also received help from radical anti-Israel activists. During her 2024 re-election bid, Linda Sarsour and Marc Lamont Hill headlined a virtual «Jews for Cori» fundraiser, according to Jewish Insider, which described Sarsour and Hill as «controversial far-left activists with histories of antisemitism.» 

Sarsour has been accused of praising a convicted terrorist and has compared Zionism to white supremacy, while likening Zionists to neo-Nazis. She had to walk back remarks after stating Israel «is built on the idea that Jews are supreme to everyone else,» and lost her seat on the board of the Women’s March amid allegations of antisemitism that she subsequently denied.

Hill, meanwhile, was fired from his job at CNN after making anti-Israel comments that his former employer, Temple University, called «virulent anti-Semitism and hate speech.»

Palestinian activist Linda Sarsour speaks to a group of Jewish activists and allies taking part in a Passover Seder outside ICE headquarters in New York City to demand the release of Mahmoud Khalil and an end to the war on Gaza.  (Photo by Michael Nigro/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

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Bush’s alignment with the anti-Israel left has also repeatedly put her alongside fellow «Squad» Reps. Tlaib and Ilhan Omar. Bush, Tlaib and Omar held a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 7, 2023, calling for a cease-fire in Gaza two months after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Bush and Tlaib later became the only two House members to vote against the No Immigration Benefits for Hamas Terrorists Act, a bill aimed at barring Hamas members and non-U.S. nationals involved in the Oct. 7 attack from immigration benefits. 

Tlaib was eventually censured by the House over her Israel-Hamas rhetoric, including her use of the phrase «from the river to the sea.» 

Meanwhile, Bush’s rhetoric after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack also drew condemnation from the Biden White House. Fox News Digital reported that Bush called for ending U.S. support for what she described as Israeli «military occupation and apartheid» in the wake of the attack, prompting then-White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre to blast Squad members’ comments as «wrong,» «repugnant» and «disgraceful.»