Trump’s new press secretary appears to acknowledge failing Bar exam amid scrutiny over lawyer claims
US President Donald Trump speaks with White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia and aide Natalie Harp after boarding Marine One at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska, on October 13, 2026. — AFP pic
Summary
- Katie Zacharia, recently appointed as White House press secretary, faces scrutiny for presenting herself as a lawyer despite not passing the bar exam.
- She claims her law degree and experience in China justify her portrayal as a legal professional.
- The Campaign for Accountability calls for an investigation, asserting that labeling oneself a lawyer without a license is illegal in California.
- Zacharia, succeeding Karoline Leavitt, conducted her first press briefing amidst this ongoing controversy.
First Published: Friday, 16 Oct 2026 9:02 AM MYT
Last Modified: Friday, 16 Oct 2026 9:04 AM MYT
WASHINGTON, Oct 16 — New White House press secretary Katie Zacharia, under scrutiny over her legal credentials, seemed to acknowledge yesterday that she had failed the Bar exam, but argued she was accurate in presenting herself as a lawyer.
Appointed by US President Donald Trump, Zacharia has described herself as a lawyer during television appearances and on social media, and listed herself as general counsel of a California-based conservative nonprofit.
But there is no evidence to suggest that the 41-year-old press secretary has ever passed the Bar exam, required to obtain a license to practice law in the United States, after graduating from Pepperdine University with a law degree.
When questioned yesterday by conservative media outlet Real America’s Voice, Zacharia said she had registered to take the Bar exam but was then “distracted and overwhelmed” by plans to move with her husband to China.
“We just said, ‘Let’s take this time, and I’ll take the Bar and see what happens.’ The results are somewhat inconsequential because I knew I wouldn’t need the Bar in China, and we left shortly thereafter,” she said.
In Beijing, Zacharia worked as a lawyer at a major Chinese law firm.
She explained that she didn’t retake the Bar exam upon returning to the United States due to the birth of her first child.
Zacharia said that “many people in the field” had assured her that she could “label myself a lawyer, not attorney at law...and provide legal analysis, not legal advice,” given her law degree and experience in business law gained in China.
“I was very careful how I executed this,” she said.
The Campaign for Accountability, a political ethics organization, on Wednesday called for the California Bar Association to launch an investigation.
“In California, calling yourself a lawyer without a license isn’t puffery; it’s a crime,” the organization stated in a press release.
Zacharia held her first White House press briefing on Tuesday with an unusually short press conference where she answered questions from three journalists.
She succeeded Karoline Leavitt, a loyal Trump supporter and often combative press secretary, who stepped down in August to care for her young children. — AFP
After graduating from Pepperdine University law school (JD) and marrying the same year, she and her husband, Tyler Zacharia, moved to Beijing, China, where she worked at the Zhong Lun Law Firm on the international practice team.
ReplyDeleteFamous People Who Failed the Bar Exam
Former Vice President Kamala Harris (a graduate of the University of California, Hastings College of Law) failed the California bar exam on her first try.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama (a graduate of Harvard Law School) failed the Illinois bar exam on her first try.
Former Secretary of State and past presidential candidate Hillary Clinton failed the D.C. bar exam the first time she took it. She passed the Arkansas bar after that.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt failed the New York bar exam on his first try after attending Harvard College and Columbia Law School . . . and he was subsequently elected president four times!
John F. Kennedy, Jr. failed the New York bar exam twice before passing it on his third try.
Several former governors have failed the bar exam. Former California Governor Pete Wilson failed the California bar exam three times before passing it on his fourth try. Two-time governor of California, Jerry Brown, also failed the bar exam.
Several former mayors have failed the bar exam (some more than once!), including New York mayor Ed Koch, Chicago mayor Richard Daley, and Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Businesswoman and TV star Kim Kardashian failed the California “baby bar” (First-Year Law Students’ Examination) three times before passing on her fourth attempt. She subsequently took the California bar exam in July 2025 but did not pass.
All of these people (and many more!) failed the bar exam at least once…and they did alright ✅! Their bar exam failures certainly do not define them and certainly did not hold them back from leading great careers and living very meaningful lives. In fact, failure probably made them bolder and better at what they did.
Thanks for defending her, and showing she had been better than TV star Kim Kardashian, wakakaka
DeleteShe has a law degree and has done a fair amount of paralegal and administrative legal work....which is a perfectly acceptable background which she should be proud to disclose...
ReplyDeleteJust she cannot claim to be a lawyer by profession.