Katie Zacharia, recently appointed as White House press secretary under former President Donald Trump’s administration, has admitted she never passed a bar exam, contradicting earlier statements in which she claimed to have done so upon moving to China.
In an interview on Thursday with conservative commentator Jack Posobiec on the Real America’s Voice streaming platform, Zacharia clarified that she took the California bar exam after graduating from Pepperdine University School of Law in 2011 but did not pass. She described the exam results as “somewhat inconsequential” since she had no plans to practice law in the United States or China. “There’s no Chinese bar,” she said, explaining that her law degree from Pepperdine sufficed for her professional activities abroad.
In fact, China requires legal professionals to pass the National Unified Legal Professional Qualification Examination to practice law on the mainland, a test restricted to Chinese citizens under regulations set by the Ministry of Justice. While foreign nationals may be employed by law firms in China, they cannot be licensed to practise as lawyers there.
Zacharia acknowledged that her self-identification as a “lawyer” had caused “a lot of misinformation” and stated she had consulted unspecified experts who affirmed that using the term was acceptable. However, in an earlier interview with The New York Times, she noted that the president of Pepperdine University had advised her she could describe herself as a “lawyer” but not as an “attorney” or “esquire.”
The California State Bar confirmed it has no record of Zacharia ever being licensed under her maiden name, Black, or her married name. The Bar noted that California law prohibits anyone who is not an active licensee or otherwise authorised from representing themselves as able to practise law in the state.
Trump referred to Zacharia as an attorney during her recent appointment announcement. She had previously described her professional experience as including “international translation law with all the appropriate credentials.” In her interview with The New York Times, she asserted that she had misheard a question regarding the bar exam due to noise from the presidential helicopter.
On her LinkedIn profile, Zacharia lists an associate position at Zhong Lun Law Firm, one of China’s largest firms, spanning from 2011 to 2013. She stated in the interview with Posobiec that she was “offered a job at an international practice division of a Chinese law firm.” Gary Gao, a Shanghai-based partner at Zhong Lun, told The New York Times that the firm commonly employs foreigners for language-related assistance and that such individuals do not practise Chinese law. He estimated Zacharia’s role was likely similar to a paid internship.
Additionally, Zacharia has claimed on a podcast to have served as “outside counsel to the IFC and the World Bank.”
The Campaign for Accountability, a watchdog organisation, has requested that the California State Bar investigate whether Zacharia’s self-representation as a lawyer violated state law, and whether her tenure as general counsel for Fix California—a nonprofit led by former Trump administration official Richard Grenell—involved unauthorised legal practice. The group said the complaint was acknowledged by the State Bar and forwarded to the District of Columbia Bar. Michelle Kuppersmith, executive director of the Campaign for Accountability, argued that the distinction between “lawyer” and “attorney” is meaningless in this context and stated that Zacharia was not entitled to present herself as a lawyer.
The California State Bar declined to confirm whether an investigation was underway, citing confidentiality of disciplinary matters. The White House and Zhong Lun Law Firm did not respond to requests for comment.