A Trump administration official argued that the White House press secretary could technically be considered a “lawyer.” Legal experts have disputed that argument.

White House press secretary Katie Zacharia did not pass the California bar exam when she took it after graduating from law school, according to a senior administration official.

The official argued that Zacharia could technically be considered a “lawyer,” though not an attorney. Donald Trump referred to Zacharia as an “attorney” in his Truth Social post announcing that he was tapping her as press secretary.

But several lawyers told NBC News that “lawyer” is widely understood to refer to someone who has passed the bar exam and is licensed to practice law.

Zacharia’s failure to pass the bar exam was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. The new White House press secretary is facing questions about her legal credentials after the White House has not said whether Zacharia, who has repeatedly referred to herself as a lawyer, passed the bar exam.

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[–] 1 point 15 hours ago (1 child)

It's not that they cannot be held by a court to be illegal, it's that it's not explicit and can be argued away by a good team. This means the expense to try such a case grows and puts pressure on them not to. Trying it and failing also weakens the current law when applied to normies, which they cannot have either. In this case I'm sure the combination of politics and these loopholes mean it wouldn't be tried.

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  • [–] 1 point 14 hours ago*

    Reasonable doubt would be the standard then. But also it's ultimately an academic question because no prosecutor that isn't being a pedantic and/or vindictive asshole will try someone for this statute violation based on someone erroneously representing their credentials but not acting upon that misrepresention. This law is meant to protect people from fraudsters claiming to be lawyers. Not for the law equivalent of stolen valor. It's still illegal (and sad/scummy) but no one is going to waste their time trying this case.

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