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.
But she went to law school! What more do you want?!
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.
The technical term is bullshit credential.
Press secretaries don’t have to be lawyers but they do have to tell the truth, or did until very recently.
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.
Which is charitablese for nonexistent.
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.
A separate section of California law makes it a misdemeanor to pretend to be a lawyer.
If only there were a federal law that makes it a felony to pretend to be qualified to be president. If only if only if only.
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