Washington, DC — President Donald Trump’s newly appointed press secretary, Katie Zacharia, is facing a request for a California State Bar investigation over repeated claims that she is a lawyer despite no public record showing she is licensed to practice law in the United States.
The nonprofit Campaign for Accountability filed a complaint Wednesday asking the State Bar of California to determine whether Zacharia violated state law by presenting herself as an attorney without a license.
Zacharia earned a law degree from Pepperdine University in 2011 and has described herself as a lawyer during television appearances. She also previously held the title of general counsel for Fix California, a conservative nonprofit founded by Trump ally Richard Grenell.
The California State Bar says it has no record of Zacharia being licensed under either her current or maiden name. Reviews of attorney databases have similarly found no admission in other U.S. jurisdictions.
Questions intensified Tuesday when a reporter asked Zacharia which state’s bar examination she passed. Her response appeared to reference moving to China rather than identifying a U.S. jurisdiction. Foreign nationals generally cannot qualify as licensed Chinese attorneys.
The White House maintains that Zacharia performed international transactional legal work in China with appropriate credentials but has not produced evidence of a U.S. law license.
No finding of wrongdoing has been made, and the California Bar has not said whether it will open a formal investigation.
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