Watchdog Calls for Investigation Into White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia Over Claims She's a Lawyer — Despite Reportedly Lacking a License
Zacharia claimed she got her law degree in China.
Oct. 15 2026, Published 12:45 p.m. ET
A watchdog organization has asked California's State Bar to investigate White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia's claim that she's a lawyer, RadarOnline.com can report.
The Campaign for Accountability (CFA) filed the complaint this week, shortly after Zacharia's first press conference.
The Campaign for Accountability’s Complaint
Zacharia's claim she's a lawyer has come under fire.
"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," CFA Executive Director Michelle Kuppersmith shared in a statement.
According to the California Business and Professions Code, somebody falsely "advertising or holding himself or herself out as practicing or entitled to practice law or otherwise practicing law who is not an active licensee of the State Bar, or otherwise authorized… to practice law" is committing a crime.
In California, if someone is found guilty of posing as a lawyer, they could face up to one year behind bars. They may also be ordered to pay $1,000 in fines.
Katie Zacharia Addresses Reports
Zacharia claimed she passed the bar while in China.
From February 2025 to October 2026, Zacharia has stated publicly that she's a lawyer at least 18 times, according to a report.
After her press conference on Tuesday, October 13, reporters asked the former Fox News contributor in which state she passed the bar exam.
She replied, "When I moved to China."
The press secretary clarified her statement during an interview, explaining she thought they were asking where she was after graduating law school.
Did She Pass the Bar?
The CFA claimed there's no records Zacharia 'has ever been admitted to practice law.'
Zacharia also addressed the reports that she's not a licensed attorney. The press secretary explained that she obtained a law degree from Pepperdine University 15 years ago.
She shared the University told her she could call herself a lawyer, but not an attorney or esquire.
But Zacharia did not say if she passed a bar exam later on—either in America or China.
"Popular Information reported that it had searched the attorney licensing records of all 50 states and the District of Columbia, including the State Bar of California, and found no record that Ms. Zacharia has ever been admitted to practice law. As Mediaite observed, state bar directories typically retain records of inactive, suspended, and disbarred attorneys, so the absence of any listing suggests Ms. Zacharia was never admitted at all," CFA’s complaint reads.
Steven Cheung Responds
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White House Director of Communication Steven Cheung defended Zacharia.
White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung responded to the complaint.
In an X post, he called the CFA a "radical leftist organization" that has Trump Derangement Syndrome and isn't taken "seriously."
