- Nonprofit watchdog Campaign for Accountability filed a complaint with the State Bar of California alleging White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia falsely represented herself as a licensed attorney.
- The complaint highlights Zacharia's work as general counsel for a California nonprofit and her repeated media appearances as a lawyer, despite never being admitted to practice law in the state.
- Under California law, holding oneself out as an attorney entitled to practice law without a valid license is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine.
- Zacharia claimed she practiced law at a firm in China after passing a bar exam there, though foreign nationals cannot sit for China's bar exam nor does foreign admission permit practice in California.
- White House Communications Director Steven Cheung dismissed the watchdog group as a radical leftist organization, while the administration noted Zacharia holds a juris doctorate degree.
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