The real problem with Katie Zacharia not actually being a ‘lawyer’

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

A version of this story appeared in CNN’s What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here .

The press secretary is supposed to spin the news, not be the news.

On that most essential qualification, the new lead White House spokeswoman, Katie Zacharia, is struggling.

She has presented herself as a lawyer but does not meet the requirements in her home state to use that title.

It’s a development made even more awkward after Republicans mercilessly attacked the Democratic candidate for US Senate in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed, for not being a doctor, though he went to medical school and made his career in public health.

Zacharia has a law degree from the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, but there’s no evidence she ever passed a bar exam. She does claim to have obtained a credential in China, but it’s not at all clear what credential she’s talking about.

Squabbles over who can call themselves a lawyer or a doctor probably seem beside the point to a large portion of the country.

This issue here is not that a law degree is required to be White House press secretary — it isn’t.

The issue is that Zacharia has presented herself repeatedly on TV, including on CNN, as a lawyer, something the independent journalist Judd Legum first documented . Trump used the term “attorney” to describe her when he announced she would be his press secretary.

A review by CNN’s K-File found at least six instances when she referred to herself as either a lawyer or a corporate lawyer in her own words and multiple other instances in which she posted or reposted to social media using the term attorney or “legal strategist.”

Washington, DC, is filled to the brim with people who have law degrees but do not practice law. And it does not appear that Zacharia inappropriately tried to represent anyone in a court.

But all of this does suggest the vetting operation at the White House is, to be charitable, not very thorough.

When reporters asked Trump at the White House where Zacharia passed the bar, she chimed in from behind him that she was when she moved to China. Even Trump did a double take.

Zacharia later told Politico she had “practiced international transactional law, with all the appropriate credentials.”

It’s not clear — and the White House has not clarified — what certification Zacharia obtained in China, but it’s not the Chinese version of the bar exam. Only citizens can become licensed to practice law in China, according to the Ministry of Justice .

Questions about Zacharia’s CV are also an awkward development since Republicans in Michigan have attacked the Democrat running for Senate there, Abdul El-Sayed, for not being a doctor despite having gone to medical school.

At a debate this month, the Republican in the Senate race, former Rep. Mike Rogers, went so far as to say El-Sayed was a “con man.”

As CNN has reported , El-Sayed earned a Doctor of Medicine from Columbia University, but he does not practice clinical medicine.

El-Sayed has held public health positions in the Detroit area. His top policy issue is extending health insurance to all Americans.

Democratic boosters of El-Sayed have continued to call him a doctor.

“Abdul’s a doctor, and he’s taken on special interests to fight for good jobs, better healthcare, and lower costs,” former President Barack Obama said in an ad he cut for the Michigander.

In addition to saying on TV that she is a lawyer, Zacharia cites some legal-sounding work on her LinkedIn page; for example, she lists herself as “general counsel” for the activist group Fix California. In the nonprofit group’s tax filing for 2024, Zacharia’s name appears as having been a fundraiser.

She also lists herself as having worked as an “associate” in the international practice group at the Zhong Lun Law Firm in Beijing for nearly two years starting in 2011.

The White House press corps, obviously, has followed up on this mystery.

“Katie moved to China with her husband after graduating because of his job at an American private equity firm while she worked on international transaction law,” according to a White House official.

CNN’s White House team has found no evidence that Zacharia has passed the bar exam in the states where she has lived and worked since graduating from Pepperdine.

Here’s what California’s bar association told them:

Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images

California law lays out what’s required to be a lawyer.

There are requirements for college and law school, or their equivalents; for “good moral character”; passing an ethics exam; and passing the bar exam in California.

Zacharia, as a result, should not be considered a lawyer in California, the state where she has lived and worked.

But so many more questions remain. What is the credential Zacharia obtained in China, if any? Did she try to take a bar exam and fail, or simply not take it? Why did no one at the White House, especially after questions arose about El-Sayed’s status as a doctor, think to follow up on this earlier?

None of that really matters to anyone who is more concerned with how the White House is handling the war Trump launched on Iran or the related inflation that continues to hit Americans in the wallet. Questions about whether Zacharia can call herself a lawyer, or not, mostly distract from those other, larger issues.

Ultimately, Trump is the person who speaks for his administration in the long, often rambling appearances he frequently makes in the Oval Office.

But those appearances may become less enjoyable for him in the future, especially if Democrats take control of one or both chambers of Congress and, as expected, launch a series of investigations into his administration, the money his family has made during his presidency, and much more.

He will, at that point, need a press secretary he can trust.

CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski contributed reporting.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

本文的另一个版本曾刊登在 CNN 的“要闻速递”（What Matters）新闻简报中。如需订阅，请点击此处免费注册。

新闻秘书的职责是解读新闻，而不是成为新闻本身。

在最关键的资格方面，新任白宫首席发言人凯蒂·扎卡里亚表现不佳。

她自称是律师，但她并不符合她所在州使用该头衔的条件。

共和党人无情地攻击密歇根州美国参议院民主党候选人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德，指责他并非医生，尽管他上过医学院，并在公共卫生领域发展了自己的事业，这使得事态发展更加尴尬。

扎卡里亚拥有佩珀代因大学卡鲁索法学院的法学学位，但没有证据表明她通过了律师资格考试。她声称在中国获得了某种资格证书，但她究竟指的是什么证书，这一点完全不清楚。

对于这个国家的大部分人来说，争论谁能自称律师或医生似乎无关紧要。

问题的关键不在于担任白宫新闻秘书是否需要法律学位——事实并非如此。

问题在于，扎卡里亚多次在电视节目中，包括在CNN上，以律师的身份出现，这一点最早由独立记者贾德·莱格姆记录在案。特朗普在宣布她将担任其新闻秘书时，也用“律师”一词来称呼她。

CNN 的 K-File 调查发现，她至少有六次用自己的话说自己是律师或公司律师，还有多次她在社交媒体上发布或转发时使用了“律师”或“法律策略师”一词。

华盛顿特区到处都是拥有法学学位却不从事法律工作的人。而且，扎卡里亚似乎也没有不当试图在法庭上代表任何人。

但所有这些都表明，白宫的审查工作，说得好听点，并不十分彻底。

当记者在白宫问特朗普，扎卡里亚是在哪里通过律师资格考试的，她从他身后插话说，是她搬到中国后考的。连特朗普都愣了一下。

扎卡里亚后来告诉 Politico，她“从事国际交易法工作，并拥有所有相应的资质”。

目前尚不清楚——白宫也未作澄清——扎卡里亚在中国获得了何种资格认证，但可以肯定的是，那并非中国版的律师资格考试。根据司法部规定，只有中国公民才能获得在中国执业的律师资格。

关于扎卡里亚的简历也引发了一些尴尬的讨论，因为密歇根州的共和党人攻击了该州竞选参议员的民主党人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德，指责他虽然上过医学院，但实际上并不是医生。

在本月的一场辩论中，参议院竞选中的共和党人、前众议员迈克·罗杰斯甚至称埃尔-赛义德是“骗子”。

据 CNN 报道，埃尔-赛义德获得了哥伦比亚大学的医学博士学位，但他并不从事临床医疗工作。

埃尔-赛义德曾在底特律地区担任公共卫生职务。他最关注的政策议题是让所有美国人都能享受医疗保险。

埃尔-赛义德的民主党支持者一直称他为医生。

“阿卜杜勒是一名医生，他挺身而出，与特殊利益集团抗争，争取良好的就业机会、更好的医疗保健和更低的成本，”前总统巴拉克·奥巴马在为这位密歇根州候选人制作的广告中说道。

除了在电视上自称是律师外，扎卡里亚还在她的领英页面上列举了一些听起来像法律相关的工作；例如，她将自己列为维权组织“Fix California”的“总法律顾问”。在该非营利组织2024年的税务申报表中，扎卡里亚的名字出现在筹款人名单中。

她还自述从 2011 年开始在北京中伦律师事务所国际业务组担任“助理律师”近两年。

显然，白宫记者团已经对此事进行了跟进报道。

据一位白宫官员称，“凯蒂毕业后随丈夫移居中国，因为她丈夫在美国一家私募股权公司工作，而她则从事国际交易法方面的工作。”

CNN白宫团队没有发现任何证据表明扎卡里亚在她从佩珀代因大学毕业后居住和工作的州通过了律师资格考试。

以下是加州律师协会告诉他们的：

Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images

加州法律规定了成为律师的必要条件。

大学和法学院或同等学历有一定要求；“良好的道德品格”有一定要求；通过道德考试；并通过加州律师资格考试。

因此，扎卡里亚不应被视为加利福尼亚州的律师，而加利福尼亚州正是她生活和工作的州。

但还有更多疑问悬而未决。扎卡里亚在中国究竟获得了什么资格证书？她是否尝试参加过律师资格考试但未通过，还是根本就没参加？尤其是在埃尔-赛义德的医生身份受到质疑之后，为什么白宫没有人想到要早点跟进此事？

对于那些更关心白宫如何处理特朗普发动的伊朗战争以及由此引发的通货膨胀持续冲击美国民众钱包的人来说，这些其实都无关紧要。关于扎卡里亚是否有资格自称律师的问题，大多只会分散人们对这些更重要问题的注意力。

最终，特朗普在椭圆形办公室经常发表的冗长且往往语无伦次的讲话中，代表着他的政府发言。

但未来这些露面对他来说可能就不那么愉快了，尤其是如果民主党控制了国会的一个或两个院，并且不出所料地对他的政府、他的家人在他担任总统期间赚的钱等等展开一系列调查的话。

到那时，他将需要一位他可以信任的新闻秘书。

CNN的安德鲁·卡钦斯基对此报道亦有贡献。