Did Katie Zacharia violate California law by calling herself an attorney?

Nonprofit watchdog files complaint with State Bar of California after she ‘repeatedly held herself out to the public as entitled to practice law without a license to do so’

Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today.

A watchdog group has accused Donald Trump’s new White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia of violating California law by describing herself as a “lawyer” and working as an attorney in California despite never being admitted to practice law in the state.

“Ms. Zacharia has represented herself as a lawyer repeatedly to buttress her reputation and credibility as a television legal commentator and now as the White House spokesperson, yet it seems it was all a lie,” according to the group’s executive director Michelle Kuppersmith.

“In California, calling yourself a lawyer without a license isn’t puffery; it’s a crime,” she added. “The State Bar should investigate whether Ms. Zacharia has misled the public about her credentials and hold her accountable if she has.”

In response to The Independent’s questions about the complaint, the White House shared a post on X from communications director Steven Cheung.

“This group that filed the ‘complaint’ is a radical leftist-organization run by rabid numbskulls suffering from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome,” he wrote. “Nobody takes them seriously because they are deranged low lifes.”

Growing scrutiny into Zacharia’s legal experience followed Tuesday morning’s report from news outlet Popular Information, which sought to untangle her public statements and whether she is licensed to practice law in the U.S.

After graduating from Pepperdine University’s Caruso School of Law in 2011, Zacharia worked for Chinese firm Zhong Lun.

“In any event, admission in a foreign jurisdiction would not authorize Ms. Zacharia to practice law in California or to hold herself out as entitled to do so here,” the complaint states.

It’s a misdemeanor in California to consider oneself an attorney entitled to practice law without a license with the State Bar. It’s punishable by up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

“The rules against unlicensed lawyering exist to protect the public,” Kuppersmith said. “To be meaningful, the rules must apply to people with the biggest megaphones, not just to those with no platform.”