White House defends press secretary Katie Zacharia amid scrutiny of legal credentials
publishers 35articles 40first reported 14 Oct, 04:12 UTCdeveloping since 14 Oct · 10 editions
The White House is defending press secretary Katie Zacharia amid scrutiny over how she has described her legal credentials and experience.
Zacharia graduated from Pepperdine University’s law school in 2011 but failed the California bar exam and did not take it again, she acknowledged Thursday on Fox News. The State Bar of California told CNN it has no record that she was licensed to practice law in the state. Only Chinese citizens may obtain a license to practice law in China, where Zacharia says she worked in international transactional law after graduation.
President Donald Trump called Zacharia an attorney when announcing her appointment. Asked Tuesday where she had passed the bar, Zacharia replied, “When I moved to China.” She later said she practiced international transactional law “with all the appropriate credentials.”
Zacharia told The New York Times and Real America’s Voice that she had been advised she could call herself a lawyer because she held a law degree, but not an attorney or “esquire.” CNN reported that she shared at least 15 social-media posts between April 2025 and September 2026 that identified her as an attorney. Zacharia said the posts were reposts of coverage and were not intended to endorse that title.
On Wednesday, Campaign for Accountability filed a complaint asking the California bar to investigate whether Zacharia improperly presented herself as entitled to practice law without a license. White House communications director Steven Cheung called her “uniquely qualified and whip smart.”
HOW THIS STORY WAS MADE
Written from 8 articles, 5 with the publisher's own text; 8 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 58 h after the record first saw the story; the editor kept it as written.
- Publishers
- 35
- Source articles
- 40
- Given to the writer
- 8, 5 with the article's own text
- Independent newsrooms
- 8
- This version written
- 58 h after the record first saw the story
- Second model (editor)
- kept as written
- Publication gate
- passed
- Human review
- none
WHAT THE EDITOR DID
The second model checked the writer's draft against the same sources and published it as written.
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