After her first week as White House press secretary, Katie Zacharia has faced repeated questions about describing herself as an attorney and has maintained that President Donald Trump never asked about her legal qualifications.
Zacharia, a familiar presence on Fox News and other conservative media outlets, was often introduced or identified as an “attorney” while offering political commentary. That description has drawn scrutiny because she never passed a US bar examination.
Asked earlier this week whether she had passed the bar, Zacharia said she had taken one in China, where she worked after graduating from Pepperdine University Law School. The response confused reporters because China does not offer the US bar exam, and American citizens generally cannot sit for Chinese legal examinations.
She later clarified that she had not passed a bar exam, explaining that it was not required for her work in China, where a US qualification would not have been relevant.
During a Friday morning Fox News interview about her “tough week,” Zacharia faced unusually pointed questions from the hosts about why she had previously referred to herself as an 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 replied. “I’m being hired as White House press secretary and not White House counsel.”
The controversy is not simply that Zacharia failed to pass the bar. The central issue is that she presented herself as an attorney despite not passing the exam, which is required to become one.
In states such as California, where Zacharia lived before taking the White House position, misrepresenting oneself as an attorney can carry legal consequences.
“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 while announcing Zacharia as the new press secretary.
The new press secretary became the focus of further attention 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 the President, who directed the question to his press secretary.
“When I moved to China,” Zacharia answered, without offering additional details. She later acknowledged that she had misunderstood the question.
Her answer quickly triggered more questions about the claim.
“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 role as press secretary on Tuesday, days after Trump announced her appointment on Friday.
She confused reporters Tuesday by saying she had passed the bar in China, though she later said she had misunderstood 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 the Daily Mail 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.