Working at the White House is the big leagues or at least it used to be. Donald Trump’s presence, and the school of fish he swam in with, have taken down the dignity of that once noble edifice — what portions haven’t been bulldozed or paved over. Today was a remarkable day in anybody’s book. Katie Zacharia. the new press secretary, was exposed as a liar by Judd Legum of Popular Information. Zacharia has stated for many years now that she’s a lawyer but Legum can’t find any state bar to which she belongs, including the District of Columbia, where she claims to have done legal work.
This is a big deal. If Jen Psaki was exposed this way, her resignation would have been in hand by the end of business that same day. For one thing, it’s illegal to represent oneself as a lawyer. In California, it’s a violation of Business & Professions Code Section 6126(a), which makes it a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in county jail and/or a $1,000 fine, to advertise or hold yourself out as entitled to practice law without an active State Bar license. Section 6125 flatly prohibits the unlicensed practice of law itself. Zacharia’s strongest exposure is the General Counsel title at Fix California, because even a lawyer admitted in another state must register under California Rule of Court 9.46 before doing legal work for a California employer, and a person admitted in no state at all has no lawful path to that job.
Nevertheless, lawful or not, Ric Grenell employed Zacharia to do the job. He may not have paid her, however. What tax records are currently available show no salary for Zachariah, but do show her being paid. Â In 2024, she was paid $27,367 as a commission on her fundraising efforts. (The organization has not yet filed its 2025 report with the IRS.)
Now if she was doing legal work for Fix America, she was breaking the law. If not, then why go to the trouble of calling herself “General Counsel?”
If the Trump administration were functioning properly, Zacharia would already be shown the door. As it stands, Steven Cheung has already called her presser today “commanding,” which means that unless she’s managed to annoy Trump himself with her antics, she’s not going anywhere. Plus, it would be ludicrous to imagine at this point that Zacharia herself might have the conscience or class to realize how bad she looks and resign — although hope springs eternal.
Just another benchmark, showing us how far we have fallen as a nation.
