![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/767988a92462031618e6730e08ff0a0430-15-zacharia.rsquare.w400.jpg\")
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\n Photo: Photo by Can Hasasu\/Anadolu via Getty Images\n <\/p>\n
Just moments after her disastrous first press conference on Tuesday morning, new White House press secretary Katie Zacharia<\/a> found herself embroiled in controversy. President Trump<\/a> called his new hire an \u201cattorney<\/a>,\u201d and Zacharia repeatedly identified herself in public as a \u201clawyer.\u201d But independent journalist Judd Legum found no evidence<\/a> that the new press secretary passed the bar in any state. And when White House reporters asked Zacharia where she passed the bar exam, she replied, \u201cWhen I moved to China,\u201d which makes no sense.<\/p>\n Later on Tuesday, Zacharia tried to shut down the story by telling multiple media outlets, \u201cI practiced international transactional law, with all the appropriate credentials.\u201d But that didn\u2019t clear anything up.<\/p>\n Now, after working on a better response for two days, the White House has come up with a two-pronged defense. First, Zacharia misheard the question. Second, despite failing the bar exam in California, she thought it was okay to identify herself as a \u201clawyer\u201d and \u201cgeneral counsel,\u201d as long as she didn\u2019t use the term \u201cattorney.\u201d<\/p>\n In a phone conversation with the New York Times on Wednesday evening, Zacharia said<\/a> she misunderstood what reporters were asking:<\/p>\n \u201cI assumed the question was, \u2018Where were you after law school?\u2019\u201d she said, taking a quick phone call on the tarmac in Arizona, where the president was holding a midterm rally.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s all I could hear over the sound of Marine One,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd, wanting to respect protocol, the distance behind the president, kept me from moving closer to hear the question.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s true that there was a lot of background noise during the exchange outside the White House on Tuesday. But, in the video at least, you can hear one reporter say:<\/p>\n \u201cWhat state did she pass the bar exam in? You said she\u2019s an attorney. Where did she pass the bar exam, which state? Could she tell us?\u201d<\/p>\n After Zacharia said \u201cChina,\u201d multiple reporters shouted, \u201cWhere did she pass the bar exam?\u201d That doesn\u2019t sound anything like \u201cWhere were you after law school?,\u201d nor is the latter a commonly asked question.<\/p>\n President Trump on White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia: “I thought she was very good.”<\/p>\n Q: “You said she’s an attorney. Where did she pass the bar exam? Which state?”<\/p>\n Zacharia: “When I moved to China.”<\/p>\n Q: “Where did you pass the bar exam?” pic.twitter.com\/5xiwyEsVSs<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 CSPAN (@cspan) October 13, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n So what\u2019s the answer to their very simple question? On Thursday morning, The Wall Street Journal revealed<\/a> that Zacharia failed the California bar exam in 2011 and never retook it:<\/p>\n Zacharia sat for the California bar exam after graduating from law school at Pepperdine University in 2011, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter, but she didn\u2019t pass. She took the exam around the time she was planning a wedding and preparing to move to China with her future husband, the person said.<\/p>\n Zacharia explained the situation in more detail in an interview with right-wing commentator Jack Posobiec published on Thursday afternoon. She said she was preparing to get married and move to China when she took the bar in California, and knew the results were \u201csomewhat inconsequential\u201d since she wouldn\u2019t need it to work at a Chinese firm. When she returned to work after having children, she said she consulted \u201cmany people\u201d about whether it was okay to label herself a lawyer, and they all said yes:<\/p>\n Kate Zacharia tells Jack Posobiec that she was distracted when she took the bar exam because she had just gotten engaged, but it didn’t matter anyway because passing it was “inconsequential” since she “knew I wouldn\u2019t need the bar in China.”<\/p>\n When asked why she never took the\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/gI0BubFHbN<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) October 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n The Journal explained that while Zacharia definitely isn\u2019t an \u201cattorney,\u201d calling herself a \u201clawyer\u201d is more of a grey area:<\/p>\n In everyday U.S. parlance, the terms lawyer and attorney are used interchangeably, with both meaning someone who represents clients in court or advises them of their rights and obligations. The State Bar of California uses \u201clawyer\u201d throughout its current rules of professional conduct.<\/p>\n By some definitions, the term lawyer can also mean someone who graduated law school. Still, in a number of jurisdictions, people can\u2019t tout themselves as lawyers if they aren\u2019t licensed to practice\u2014generally by passing the bar exam in that location and an ethics test and undergoing a review of their moral character.<\/p>\n Zacharia also backed up her decision to use the title \u201clawyer\u201d to the Times , saying Pepperdine\u2019s president gave her his blessing:<\/p>\n During the brief phone call Wednesday, The Times did not get a chance to press her again about whether she had ever passed a bar exam. But before she had to go, she did explain that when she first began appearing on cable news, she consulted with Pepperdine\u2019s president as to how she should identify herself. She said she was warned not to use the words \u201cattorney\u201d or \u201cesquire,\u201d but that \u201clawyer\u201d was OK.<\/p>\n Other experts told the Times they found it misleading that Zacharia described herself as an \u201cassociate\u201d at Zhong Lun Law Firm and \u201cgeneral counsel\u201d for the nonprofit Fix California, which was founded by Trump administration official Richard Grenell. And now one watchdog group is trying to determine whether the press secretary\u2019s use of all these titles was illegal or merely frowned upon:<\/p>\n