After her first week as White House press secretary, Katie Zacharia has continued to face questions over her past descriptions of herself as an attorney. She has also argued that President Donald Trump never asked whether she had completed legal training.
Zacharia, a familiar presence on Fox News and other conservative media outlets, was frequently introduced as an “attorney” while offering political commentary. She is now facing scrutiny over those descriptions after it emerged that she has never passed a US bar examination.
Asked earlier this week whether she had passed the bar, Zacharia said she had done so in China, where she worked after graduating from Pepperdine University Law School. The response confused reporters because the US bar exam is not administered in China, and US citizens generally cannot sit for Chinese legal examinations.
She later clarified that she had never passed a bar exam, explaining that it was not required for her work in China, where a US legal qualification would not have been relevant.
During a Friday morning Fox News interview about what she described as a “tough week,” Zacharia faced unusually direct questioning from the hosts about her previous use of the title attorney.
“It’s not an easy job to be the press secretary, and you never want to be the story,” Fox & Friends host Lawrence Jones said. “But I have to ask, do you wish you would have disclosed to the president about the bar and not passing the bar?”
“Well, Lawrence, those questions weren’t asked,” Zacharia replied.
“I’m being hired as White House press secretary and not White House counsel. The conversations and the reason I was hired was to represent the president in the press,” she said.
“It’s not an easy job to be the press secretary, and you never want to be the story,” Fox & Friends host Lawrence Jones said. “But I have to ask, do you wish you would have disclosed to the president about the bar and not passing the bar?”
“Well, Lawrence, those questions weren’t asked,” Zacharia shot back. “I’m being hired as White House press secretary and not White House counsel.”
The central issue is not simply that Zacharia did not pass the bar. Rather, critics are questioning why she presented herself as an attorney despite not having completed the bar examination, which is generally required to practice as a licensed attorney.
In several states, including California, where Zacharia lived before taking the White House role, there can be legal consequences for falsely identifying oneself as an attorney.
“Katie is a distinguished Graduate of Pepperdine University, and the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, an attorney, and a frequent Commentator on outlets, including Fox News and Newsmax,” Trump wrote last week when announcing Zacharia as the new press secretary.
The new press secretary became the focus of further attention on Tuesday when she said she had passed the bar exam in China.
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“You said she’s an attorney. Where did she pass the bar exam? Which state?” a reporter asked Trump. The president then directed the question to his press secretary.
“When I moved to China,” Zacharia responded without elaborating. She later said she had misunderstood the question.
Her answer, however, quickly prompted more questions about her legal credentials.
“One cannot take an American state bar exam in China. Bar exams are administered at designated testing locations in each state of the union,” California Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu wrote on X.
Zacharia began her job as White House press secretary on Tuesday, after Trump announced her appointment the previous Friday.
She left reporters confused on Tuesday by saying she had passed the bar in China, before later explaining that she had misheard the question.
Zacharia held a press briefing the morning of her first day on the job
‘Are Katie Zacharia and trump lying when they say she is an attorney? If not, then she needs to disclose in what state she passed the bar.’
Zacharia lived and worked in Beijing, China, for roughly two to three years after graduating from Pepperdine University’s law school.
She worked for the Zhong Lun Law Firm from about August 2011 to June 2014. Her husband, Tyler Zacharia, also worked in Beijing at the time for a private equity firm.
‘I practiced international transaction law, with all the appropriate credentials,’ Zacharia told Our News Outlet in a statement earlier this week.
In addition to her roles in China, Zacharia has also served as the general counsel of conservative political group Fix California, according to her LinkedIn, and has claimed to be outside counsel for the World Bank Group and the International Finance Corporation.
