Katie Zacharia, White House Press Secretary admits she never passed bar exam amid credentials controversy

White House press secretary Katie Zacharia admitted on Thursday that she never passed a bar exam, despite previously describing herself as a lawyer and being referred to as an attorney by President Donald Trump. Zacharia made the admission during an interview with conservative commentator Jack Posobiec, following a Wall Street Journal report that she failed California's bar exam in 2011 and did not pass the bar in any other US state where she had lived. She graduated from Pepperdine University's law school.

During the interview, Zacharia said she took the California bar exam but did not pass. She attributed the outcome partly to preparations for her marriage and plans to move to China for her husband's job around the same time. She said she 'didn't think much' of the results because passing the exam was not necessary for the work she intended to do in China.

Zacharia also disputed claims that she had presented herself as an ‘attorney at law’, arguing that there was a lot of misinformation around the fact that I labeled myself a lawyer. She said she had consulted multiple experts about how to describe her professional background.

"I was very careful how I executed this. I never came across as someone who was an attorney at law," Zacharia said. The controversy intensified earlier this week when reporters questioned her about where she had passed the bar exam as Trump departed for a trip to Alaska. Zacharia responded, "I went to China," prompting further questions about her legal credentials. A White House official said Zacharia earned her juris doctor degree from Pepperdine University, a qualification the university confirmed to CBS News. According to the official, she subsequently moved to China with her husband, who worked for an American private equity firm, while she worked on international transaction law.

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In a statement to CBS News on Thursday, Zacharia said she practiced international transaction law, with all the appropriate credentials. However, it remains unclear which credentials she was referring to. Only Chinese nationals may take China's bar examination. Zacharia previously described herself as a corporate lawyer. During an appearance on Fox News in April, she said she lived in Beijing as a corporate lawyer for three years.

Her professional background is also reflected in her social media profiles. Her Instagram biography identifies her as a lawyer, while Trump referred to her as a distinguished Graduate of Pepperdine University, and the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, an attorney in a post on Truth Social.

In an interview with The New York Times, Zacharia said she had discussed the issue with Pepperdine's president when she started appearing on cable news. According to the newspaper, "She said she was warned not to use the words 'attorney" or 'esquire,' but that 'lawyer' was OK." The White House has defended her qualifications for the press secretary position, describing her as 'uniquely qualified'.

"Katie is a fabulous and wonderful addition to the team," White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement to CBS News. “She is uniquely qualified and whip smart to help inform the American people about all the great things President Trump and his administration have been doing, and she will do an incredible job as press secretary.”