Katie Zacharia under fire over legal background: What to know

President Donald Trump’s new press secretary Katie Zacharia is facing criticism over her background after a watchdog filed a complaint scrutinizing the new White House appointee’s claim that she is a lawyer.The questions started Tuesday after Zacharia was asked where she passed the bar exam, to which she responded: “When I moved to China.” She has referred to herself as an attorney, and Trump has called her a lawyer, but new reports allege Zacharia never passed the required test to be sworn in and receive her law license.Zacharia’s response came after her first briefing, which critics have said was lackluster at best. She answered only three questions and ended the briefing after 15 minutes. A watchdog group, Campaign for Accountability, has taken issue with Zacharia claiming in the media that she is a lawyer and has worked as “outside counsel” or “general counsel” for several organizations. The watchdog alleges, based on outside reports, that Zacharia is not listed in any attorney databases in California or any other states.“A law degree, standing alone, does not entitle its holder to practice law,” the group said in its complaint. “When the White House was asked whether Ms. Zacharia had ever been admitted to a bar, its press office responded only by referring the reporter to President Trump’s social media post announcing her appointment, which described her as ‘an attorney.'”Zacharia, 42, graduated with a law degree from Pepperdine University in 2011, but sources told the Wall Street Journal that, though she sat for the bar exam after graduating, she did not pass. At the time, she was in the middle of planning a wedding and gearing up to move to China.According to her LinkedIn profile, Zacharia began working at Zhong Lun Law Firm in Beijing as an “International Practice Team Associate,” a role she held for two years. Someone familiar with Zacharia’s employment told the Wall Street Journal she worked on agreements for cross-border transactions and communications with American corporations doing business in the country.“Published reporting indicates, however, that China does not permit foreign nationals to sit for its national bar examination or to practice Chinese law,” the watchdog group said. “In any event, admission in a foreign jurisdiction would not authorize Ms. Zacharia to practice law in California or to hold herself out as entitled to do so here.”Zacharia told the New York Times that her remark about passing the bar exam in China was a miscommunication because the sound of Marine One led her to mishear the question. She thought she was asked where she went after law school.The complaint also lists several instances in which Zacharia identified herself as a “lawyer” on podcasts and TV. Zacharia had said during a podcast appearance last year that she worked as outside counsel to the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank while living in China, but the employment is not listed on her LinkedIn.“Each of these representations conveys to an ordinary listener that Ms. Zacharia is a licensed attorney entitled to practice law,” the complaint said. “If, as reported, she is not licensed in California or anywhere else, these statements constitute precisely the holding out that section 6126(a) prohibits. These representations were not isolated. They span at least February 2025 through October 2026, were made across multiple national outlets available to California audiences and were reinforced by on-screen identifications in at least 18 television appearances. The repetition and breadth of these statements weigh heavily in favor of investigation.”Her next position listed on her resume is “General Counsel” at Fix California, a conservative nonprofit group that advocates election integrity, and her position was listed as remote. In order to serve as a general counsel, one would need an active law license, and most companies require eight to 15 years of legal experience.“If she provided legal advice to Fix California, reviewed or prepared contracts or other legal instruments on its behalf, or otherwise acted as its lawyer, she may have engaged in the practice of law in California without a license, in violation of section 6125,” the Watchdog complaint said. “Because the nature of her work is not publicly known, CfA asks the State Bar to determine what services Ms. Zacharia actually performed in that role.”White House spokesman Steven Cheung framed the Campaign for Accountability’s complaint filed on Wednesday as unserious, but did not stand by Zacharia’s claims to be a lawyer.FOR KATIE ZACHARIA, IT’S ONLY UP FROM HERE“This group that filed the ‘complaint’ is a radical leftist-organization run by rabid numbskulls suffering from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome,” Cheung said. “Nobody takes them seriously because they are deranged low lifes.”Zacharia’s resume includes other jobs such as working at a nonprofit group while living in China, director of development at her alma mater, an advisor for an anti-abortion group, and a two-month stint as the Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman.