总部位于华盛顿特区的道德监督组织“问责运动”指责凯蒂·扎卡里亚冒充律师，敦促加利福尼亚州律师协会在她被解除白宫新闻秘书职务后继续调查她的资质。该组织本周早些时候曾对扎卡里亚提出律师协会投诉，称她离开白宫并未解决她可能因冒充律师而违反加利福尼亚州法律的指控，尽管她从未获得执业许可。“白宫显然认识到，鉴于有关她行为的事实已经曝光，让凯蒂·扎卡里亚继续担任新闻秘书是不可行的，”该组织执行主任米歇尔·库珀斯米思在周五向《国会山报》发表的声明中表示。
A D.C.-based ethics watchdog group that accused Katie Zacharia of misrepresenting herself as a lawyer is urging the State Bar of California to press ahead with an investigation into her credentials after she was ousted as White House press secretary. The Campaign for Accountability, which filed a Bar complaint against Zacharia earlier this week, said her exit from the White House does not resolve allegations that she may have violated California law by portraying herself as a lawyer despite never being licensed to practice law. "The White House clearly recognized that keeping Katie Zacharia as Press Secretary was untenable given the facts that have come out about her conduct," Michelle Kuppersmith, the group's executive director, said in a Friday statement to The Hill.
“即便如此，她的离职也无法抹去她一贯且显然虚假地以律师身份自居的事实，”库珀斯米思补充道。“这在加利福尼亚州是一项犯罪行为，因此我们继续敦促该州律师协会展开调查并施加任何适当的处罚。”该组织于周三提交了投诉，就在扎卡里亚短暂任期因首次新闻发布会动荡不安以及对其职业背景的审查而以艰难开局的第二天。
"Even so, her departure does not wipe clean the fact that she consistently, and apparently falsely, held herself out as a lawyer," Kuppersmith added. "This is a crime in California, so we continue to urge the state's Bar to investigate and impose any appropriate penalties." The group filed its complaint on Wednesday, the day after Zacharia's brief tenure got off to a rocky start with a shaky first press briefing and scrutiny into her professional history.
扎卡里亚是佩珀代因法学院的毕业生，尽管她从未通过律师资格考试，但在媒体露面中经常自称“律师”。她的领英个人资料还提到她曾担任保守派非营利组织“加州修复”（Fix California）的“总法律顾问”，该组织由特朗普盟友、前政府官员理查德·格雷内尔创立。她曾声称自己在中国北京的中伦律师事务所国际业务团队担任助理，而特朗普总统在宣布她作为前新闻秘书卡罗琳·利维特的继任者时，曾将她描述为“律师”。
Zacharia, a graduate of Pepperdine Law School, has often referred to herself in media appearances as a "lawyer" despite never having passed the bar exam. Her LinkedIn profile also referenced her role as "general counsel" for Fix California, a conservative nonprofit founded by Trump ally and former administration official Richard Grenell. She has claimed to have worked as an associate on the International Practice Team of Beijing-based Zhong Lun Law Firm, and President Trump described her as an "attorney" when he announced her as former Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt's replacement.
记者本周在南草坪询问她在哪个州参加律师资格考试时，扎卡里亚回答说：“当我搬到中国时。”她后来表示，由于海军陆战队一号直升机的噪音，她听错了问题，以为是在问她法学院毕业后去了哪里。在随后的采访中，她承认自己从未通过加州律师资格考试，并告诉《纽约时报》，当时她计划搬到国外，因此考试结果“在某种程度上无关紧要”。
When asked by reporters on the South Lawn this week which state she took the bar exam in, Zacharia replied, "When I moved to China." She later said she misheard the question due to the noise of Marine One and assumed it was about where she went after law school. In subsequent interviews, she admitted she never passed the California bar exam, telling The New York Times the results were "somewhat inconsequential" since she was planning to move overseas at the time.
“我从未打算从事法律工作，”扎卡里亚周四晚上在福克斯新闻肖恩·汉尼蒂的节目中说。“当我去参与媒体工作并提供法律分析时，我咨询了律师和法律专业人士，询问他们是否同意我可以被称为律师，这既因为我拥有来自一所好法学院、声誉良好的法学院——佩珀代因法学院的有效法学博士学位，也因为我确实具备实际的实质性法律经验。”
"It was never my intent to go into the practice of law," Zacharia told Fox News' Sean Hannity Thursday night. "When I went to go engage in media and give legal analysis, I consulted attorneys and legal professionals as to whether or not they agreed that I could be labeled a lawyer, both because I had a valid Juris Doctor from a good law school, a reputable law school, Pepperdine Law School, and in conjunction with the fact that I did have actual substantive legal experience.”
监督组织称，她使用这些术语可能是非法的，因为每种表述“都向普通听众传达了扎卡里亚女士是一名持牌律师，有权执业法律”的信息。人们普遍认为，“律师”一词指的是法学院毕业生，而“律师（attorney）”则指通过律师资格考试并在特定司法管辖区获得执业许可的人。但美国律师协会（ABA）并不作此区分，而是互换使用这些头衔，用来描述任何“在法律事务中为他人提供建议和代表的持牌专业人士”。
The watchdog group alleges her use of the terms may have been unlawful because each representation "conveys to an ordinary listener that Ms. Zacharia is a licensed attorney entitled to practice law." It is commonly believed the term “lawyer” refers to someone who has graduated from law school, while an “attorney” is someone who has passed the bar exam and is licensed to practice law in a specific jurisdiction. But the American Bar Association (ABA) makes no such distinction, using the titles interchangeably to describe any “licensed professional who advises and represents others in legal matters.”
许多州的执业许可法规，包括加州的，也没有作此区分。加州法律规定，除非该人是“州律师协会的活跃成员”，否则“不得在该州从事法律工作”，并且将非法将自己描述为“从事或有权从事法律工作”定为轻罪。目前尚不清楚如果加州律师协会甚至选择不追究此事，该投诉可能会产生什么结果。
Many state licensing statutes, including California’s, don’t either. California law asserts that “no person shall practice law” in the state unless that person is “an active member of the State Bar” and makes it a misdemeanor offense to unlawfully portray oneself as “practicing or entitled to practice law.”It remains to be seen what outcome could come from the complaint, if the State Bar of California even chooses to pursue it at all.
独立司法数据中心Vitreo编译的数据显示，纪律机构每年处理数万起投诉，其中绝大多数被驳回、筛除或私下解决。由于扎卡里亚不是加州律师协会成员，即使该机构发现她有不当行为，也无法对其采取任何专业纪律处分措施。但该机构可以将她移交司法部门以面临刑事指控。白宫周五下午证实，扎卡里亚正在“过渡离开”该职位，时间仅为特朗普总统宣布她为其新闻秘书人选之后的第五天。
Data compiled by Vitreo, an independent hub for judicial data, shows that disciplinary agencies process tens of thousands of complaints each year, and the vast majority are dismissed, screened out or resolved privately. Because Zacharia is not a member of the California Bar, the agency can't take any professional disciplinary action against her even if it identifies wrongdoing. It could, however, refer her for prosecution on criminal charges. The White House confirmed Friday afternoon that Zacharia was "transitioning out" of the role just five days after President Trump announced her as his pick to fill the press secretary role.