White House press secretary Katie Zacharia faces scrutiny over legal credentials
publishers 141articles 203first reported 9 Oct, 18:18 UTCdeveloping since 10 Oct · 21 editionstop 25 #14
New White House press secretary Katie Zacharia is facing questions about her legal credentials after saying she passed the bar exam “when I moved to China.”
Zacharia earned a law degree from Pepperdine University in 2011 and worked as an associate on the international practice team at Zhong Lun Law Firm in Beijing from 2011 to 2013, according to her LinkedIn profile. She later served at Fix California, a conservative advocacy group, where her profile described her as general counsel.
Reuters reported that it could find no record of Zacharia being registered as an attorney or bar member in any U.S. state or Washington, D.C. The Wall Street Journal reported that she took the California bar exam but did not pass, a finding WIRED said it independently confirmed. Chinese law restricts licensed legal practice to Chinese nationals, although foreign staff may advise on legal matters.
“I practiced international transaction law, with all the appropriate credentials,” Zacharia said in a statement. The White House did not answer questions from Reuters about her credentials. Campaign for Accountability filed a complaint asking the State Bar of California to investigate whether she improperly represented herself as an attorney.
The scrutiny followed Zacharia’s first White House briefing Tuesday, which lasted about 14 minutes and included questions from three reporters. President Donald Trump, who appointed her after Karoline Leavitt left the administration in August, said he thought Zacharia performed “very good.”
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- This version written
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