White House press secretary faces bar complaint over repeated lawyer claims

WatchWhite House press secretary faces bar complaint over repeated lawyer claimsby EMMA KOPPELMAN | The National News Desk

WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 13: White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia (L) joins U.S. President Donald Trump as he departs on the South Lawn of the White House on October 13, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump is traveling to Alaska to headline a rally for incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), who will be facing off against Alaska Democratic Senate candidate, former Rep. Mary Peltola in the midterm elections. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)Comment on this story15CommentShare storySharetopics: White HouseKatie ZachariaState Bar of CaliforniaUnauthorized practiceLegal complaintSteven CheungPepperdine Caruso Law SchoolXWASHINGTON (TNND) — The Campaign for Accountability asked the State Bar of California on Wednesday to investigate White House press secretary Katie Zacharia’s repeated claims that she is a lawyer.

White House spokesman Steven Cheung criticized the watchdog in a post on X, calling it “a radical leftist-organization run by rabid numbskulls” with “a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.” He added, “Nobody takes them seriously because they are deranged low lifes.”

The complaint says Zacharia may have violated California law if she presented herself as entitled to practice law without a license. Unauthorized practice can carry penalties of up to one year in jail, a $1,000 fine, or both. The complaint asks the state bar to refer the matter to prosecutors if it finds a violation.

The state bar says it has no record of Zacharia, or her former name Kate Sharon Black, being licensed in California. It says confidentiality laws limit what it can confirm about bar exam records.

Zacharia said Tuesday that she passed the bar “when I moved to China.” The White House said she practiced international transactional law there with “all the appropriate credentials,” but has not said where she passed a bar exam. Zacharia graduated from Pepperdine Caruso Law School in 2011, and her LinkedIn profile lists her as an associate at Beijing law firm Zhong Lun from 2011 to 2013. Multiple news organizations have reported finding no record that she was admitted to practice law in states where she lived or worked.

The complaint cites at least 18 TV appearances from February 2025 through October 2026 in which Zacharia allegedly described herself as a lawyer. It requests an investigation; Zacharia has not been charged with a crime.