White House press secretary Katie Zacharia said she never passed the bar. Trump had called her an attorney.
White House press secretary Katie Zacharia confirmed Thursday that she never passed the bar exam, days after questions arose about her legal credentials. In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, she did not dispute that she went to Pepperdine law school but did not pass the bar. She had described herself as a lawyer, and President Donald Trump called her “an attorney” on Truth Social.
She told conservative commentator Jack Posobiec that she took the California bar exam in 2011 after graduating from Pepperdine but did not pass, saying she was “distracted and overwhelmed” by plans to marry and move to China for her husband’s work. The Wall Street Journal first reported that she sat for the exam and did not pass, and a senior administration official confirmed it to NBC News. Reuters said it found no records showing she was registered as an attorney or member of the bar in any U.S. state. “I never came across as someone who was an attorney at law,” Zacharia said.
Zacharia told The New York Times she was told she could call herself a lawyer but not an attorney. She has also described herself as “general counsel” for organizations, including the Trump-aligned nonprofit Fix California, according to Forbes. At her first briefing Tuesday, asked where she passed the bar, she said, “I went to China.” Only Chinese nationals may take the bar exam in China, CBS News noted.
On Wednesday, the Campaign for Accountability, a liberal watchdog, asked the State Bar of California to investigate whether she broke state law by holding herself out as a lawyer. It is not clear whether the bar will open an inquiry.
This report is based on information from ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, The Washington Post and Forbes.