From Florida Politics:
Florida Bar complaint filed over fired White House press secretary’s lawyer claims.
Jesse Scheckner, Florida Politics, October 16, 2026
Freshly fired White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia’s bad week may get worse after bicoastal Bar complaints, including one in the Sunshine State.
Deerfield Beach activist and blogger Chaz Stevens, CEO of JoeSnitch.com, filed complaints this week in Florida and California alleging Zacharia repeatedly presented herself as a lawyer without a license.
His Florida complaint focuses on statements Zacharia made while working for Sarasota-based Trump Media & Technology Group, which runs President Donald Trump’s Truth Social social-media platform.
Zacharia’s termination Friday came five days into her White House tenure amid scrutiny of her résumé and criticism of an inauspicious press briefing — her first and last in the job.
Stevens’ complaints, filed Wednesday, request investigations and possible referrals to prosecutors.
In an archived X bio from May, Zacharia described herself as a lawyer, General Counsel for the conservative Fix California nonprofit, TV news commentator, former spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security — a post she held for one month — and a Sicilian.
Stevens said he searched Florida’s lawyer directory using five variations of her married and maiden names, but found no mention of her. Popular Information separately reported finding no evidence of Bar admission in any state or Washington, D.C.
Supplemental materials Stevens provided included screenshots showing Zacharia shared four OANN posts identifying her as an attorney. CNN also reported on the reposts.
Two Sept. 11 posts Stevens included also identify her Trump Media role, a pairing he argues strengthens her Florida connection.
Zacharia did earn a law degree from Pepperdine University’s law school in 2011. But she told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday that she failed the Bar exam and never retook it. She said Pepperdine’s President and others advised her that she could nevertheless describe herself as a lawyer, but not an attorney or esquire.
Stevens also requested possible referral to the State Attorney for the 12th Judicial Circuit, which includes Sarasota. The Bar’s Unauthorized Practice of Law (UPL) proceedings are civil; a State Attorney would handle criminal charges.
Stevens said he filed six UPL complaints with the Bar’s Tampa office last year, all of which were accepted and investigated.
Florida Bar Branch UPL Counsel Maria Torres confirmed Friday morning that the organization received his complaint. She did not say whether an investigation will follow.
In his California complaint — sent to District Attorneys in Ventura County, where Zacharia lives, and Los Angeles County, where the nonprofit is based — Stevens raised additional questions about her listed role as Fix California’s General Counsel from 2024 to 2025.
He asked regulators to obtain appointment records, documents she signed under that title and nonprofit officer disclosures to determine what work she performed. He’s also seeking the preservation of social media records, a cease-and-desist order and referrals to prosecutors.
On Friday, shortly after news broke that Trump had fired Zacharia, Stevens mused by text, “Katie invents a new unit of time! HalfaMucci,” referring to Trump’s 2017 firing of former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci after a record 10 days on the job.
Scaramucci weighed in on the matter with humor himself, writing on X, “Records are made to be broken. But I take no pleasure in other people’s pain.”
Campaign for Accountability, a nonpartisan watchdog group, filed a separate complaint in California on Wednesday.
Jesse Scheckner
Jesse Scheckner has covered South Florida with a focus on Miami-Dade County since 2012. His work has been recognized by the Hearst Foundation, Society of Professional Journalists, Florida Society of News Editors, Florida MMA Awards and Miami New Times. Email him at Jesse@FloridaPolitics.com and follow him on Twitter @JesseScheckner.
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