Katie Zacharia has said she failed the California bar exam because she was distracted by planning her wedding and preparing to move to China.
The new White House press secretary made the admission during an interview with Jack Posobiec on Real America’s Voice, after questions were raised about her legal background.
Zacharia said she sat the exam in 2011 after graduating from Pepperdine University’s law school. She had recently become engaged to Tyler Zacharia and was also making plans to move to China to join him.
She described the result as “inconsequential”, saying: “I knew I wouldn’t need the bar in China.”
After moving, Zacharia worked on international transaction law at Zhong Lun Law Firm, described as one of China’s biggest law firms. A White House official said she holds a JD from Pepperdine and moved abroad because of her husband’s job at an American private equity firm.
Zacharia did not retake the bar exam. Asked why, she said she began having children; she and Tyler have four children.
Her legal credentials came under scrutiny after Donald Trump hired her as White House press secretary and promoted her as an “attorney”. Her social media biography described her as a “lawyer”, although she acknowledged that she had not passed the bar.
Zacharia said it was “okay and acceptable” to use the description for the work she was doing. She had previously said: “I practiced international transaction law, with all the appropriate credentials.”
