Katie Zacharia, President Trump's newly appointed press secretary, has repeatedly described herself as a lawyer, but a new investigation has found no record that she was ever licensed to practice law in the United States — an issue that could carry criminal consequences in California. The scrutiny carries extra weight because of the job itself: the press secretary is the administration's principal public spokesperson, the official who briefs reporters and answers questions on the president's behalf.

The finding comes from an investigative report published by Judd Legum's Popular Information Substack, which searched attorney licensing records in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., and found no evidence that Zacharia had ever been admitted to any bar.

The issue is not merely that Zacharia has referenced a legal education. She has, on numerous occasions, explicitly described herself as a lawyer, and has listed a California-based organization as an employer where she served as General Counsel.

Appearing on The Greg Kelly Show on October 5, Zacharia stated: "I'm a lawyer." In an August podcast interview, she repeated the claim, saying, "I'm a lawyer, I went to Pepperdine, Pepperdine Law."

Pepperdine University confirmed that Zacharia earned her J.D. in 2011. Earning a law degree, however, is not the same as being admitted to practice law. In the United States, that admission is granted jurisdiction by jurisdiction, typically after a bar examination and a formal review by a state's bar authorities.

When announcing her appointment, Trump likewise referred to her as "an attorney."

Popular Information found no listing for Zacharia in California's attorney registry, nor in those of Texas and Washington, D.C., where she had previously worked. A broader nationwide search likewise yielded no results. Alternet independently searched the official California Bar records and found no entries under either her maiden name or her current name.

That absence, on its own, does not prove wrongdoing. But the title Zacharia used at Fix California — a conservative non-profit founded by Trump ally Ric Grenell — makes the question considerably harder to dismiss. Her LinkedIn profile states that she served as the group's General Counsel from January 2024 to March 2025. A General Counsel would ordinarily be responsible for an organization's legal affairs, though the exact nature of Zacharia's work in that role has not been established.

California Business and Professions Code § 6126, a person who is not licensed or otherwise authorized to practice law commits a misdemeanor if they advertise themselves as entitled to practice law or otherwise engage in the practice of law. A conviction under that provision can carry up to one year in county jail, a $1,000 fine, or both. It is not known whether Zacharia's conduct rose to that level, and the report offers no evidence of a criminal violation.

Popular Information also noted that Zacharia's descriptions of her Fix California role have shifted over time: while her LinkedIn profile shows the General Counsel position ending in March 2025, she continued using that title in her social media bios into 2026.

The fundamental question remains unanswered: was Zacharia ever actually authorized to practice law? What to watch now is whether Zacharia or the White House addresses the findings directly, and what her General Counsel work at Fix California actually involved.