Watchdog Requests Investigation of White House Press Secretary's Legal Claims

<figure><img alt="New White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia holds her first press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, US, October 13, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque" src="https://thedailybeast-thedailybeast-prod.web.arc-cdn.net/resizer/v2/FPQTDF7FB5BUXFPDFPNSLEJ4YE.JPG?auth=544675af4011b107995878f6e38e5285372a9f8cf03373ac5bff4890b0691782&amp;smart=true&amp;width=2256&amp;height=1269" /><figcaption>Kevin Lamarque / REUTERS</figcaption></figure><p>The Campaign for Accountability has requested that the State Bar of California investigate claims made by Katie Zacharia, the new White House press secretary, regarding her status as a lawyer. This request follows a report that raised concerns about her legal background.</p><p>In a letter dated October 14, the watchdog group asked the State Bar to determine whether Zacharia, a California resident, violated sections of the California Business and Professions Code that prohibit individuals from practicing law without an active license.</p><img alt="New White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia has given strange nonanswers as to her career history in the U.S. / Kevin Lamarque / REUTERS" height="3667" src="https://thedailybeast-thedailybeast-prod.web.arc-cdn.net/resizer/v2/6EPZZWYNOJH5HONFMKBAQQ4BK4.JPG?auth=e06c9c9d9b678b25c6409e7b3bffeb31b390a6d46afb6aed02442bd1071d8094&amp;smart=true&amp;width=5500&amp;height=3667" width="5500" /><p>The group cited reporting by Judd Legum of Popular Information, which indicated that there is no evidence Zacharia has passed a bar exam or has been admitted to practice law in any state, despite her claims of being a lawyer.</p><p>“If that reporting is accurate, Ms. Zacharia has repeatedly held herself out to the public as entitled to practice law without a license to do so, conduct California law treats as a crime,” the watchdog stated.</p><p>“Ms. Zacharia now speaks for the President of the United States from the White House podium. She has relied on her legal pedigree to give her credibility both in that role and to her statements as a television legal commentator,” it continued.</p><img alt="Her first week of work has gotten off to a poor start, as questions swirl about her credentials. / Kevin Lamarque / REUTERS" height="3328" src="https://thedailybeast-thedailybeast-prod.web.arc-cdn.net/resizer/v2/ESIEJEWAX5AZHADIBUUCIAPIAU.JPG?auth=e7371fcd0e08efa8c10d2f348437937f2e941efe2964ca27c5034a716559a371&amp;smart=true&amp;width=4992&amp;height=3328" width="4992" /><p>Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, referred to the group as “a radical leftist organization run by rabid numbskulls suffering from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.” He added that “nobody takes them seriously because they are deranged low lifes.”</p><p>The State Bar of California stated that it could not confirm whether it has received any complaint or is conducting any investigation due to confidentiality laws.</p><p>“Disciplinary investigations become public if and when a notice of disciplinary charges is filed with the State Bar Court or when a stipulation to a particular level of discipline is accepted and filed by the Court,” a spokesperson said.</p><img alt="She did graduate from law school, but there is no evidence that she has ever been licensed to practice law in the U.S. / @katiezacharia/Instagram" height="1206" src="https://thedailybeast-thedailybeast-prod.web.arc-cdn.net/resizer/v2/34HOEEQWA5CXFDXNBZHTTZ6I3E.png?auth=0cdab9b51da46f4b91034cee4df1834bac7685c1f2cea20aea56220e6031112f&amp;smart=true&amp;width=1062&amp;height=1206" width="1062" /><p>Zacharia, 41, graduated from Pepperdine Caruso Law School in 2011. That same year, she moved to Beijing, China, to join her husband Tyler, who had already been living there.</p><p>Her LinkedIn page indicates that she worked as an associate at the elite firm Zhong Lun from 2011 to 2013. She also served as general counsel for Fix California, a political organization founded by Trump loyalist and former Kennedy Center chief Ric Grenell.</p><p>When reporters questioned her about her credentials on Tuesday, Zacharia stated that she passed the bar “when I moved to China.”</p><video id="yzUwVvCA" poster="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/yzUwVvCA/poster.jpg"><source src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/videos/yzUwVvCA.mp4" type="video/mp4" /></video><p>The White House previously stated that Zacharia “worked on international transaction law” in China and “practiced international transactional law, with all the appropriate credentials.”</p><p>“The public is entitled to rely on the representation that a person who calls herself a lawyer is in fact licensed to practice law. California law protects that reliance by making it a crime for an unlicensed person to hold herself out as entitled to practice,” the Campaign for Accountability said.</p><p>“That protection means little if it is not enforced against prominent figures who make such claims to millions of viewers.”</p>