Katie Zacharia, the new White House Press Secrett, admits she failed to pass the bar exam, confirms she never tried again: ‘results are somewhat inconsequential’

White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia acknowledged she did not pass the bar exam, adding to questions about how she described her legal credentials. During a Fox News interview, host Sean Hannity asked Zacharia whether she attended Pepperdine Law School but failed to pass the bar. She confirmed that was ‘correct’ and said she had not attempted the exam a second or third time.

The case follows several reports examining whether Zacharia is licensed to practice law. Earlier, Popular Information reported that it could find no evidence she was licensed, while The Wall Street Journal reported that she sat for the California bar exam in 2011 but did not pass.

The issue has attracted attention partly because Zacharia has described herself as a lawyer, and President Donald Trump referred to her as an attorney when announcing her White House role.

The results were not important

In an earlier interview with Real America’s Voice, Zacharia explained that she took the bar exam after graduating from Pepperdine Caruso School of Law in 2011. However, she said she was preparing to move to China and expected to work in international transactional law, so she did not view the results as particularly important.

“I’ll take the bar and see what happens,” she recalled thinking at the time. “The results are somewhat inconsequential because I knew I wouldn’t need the bar in China.”

Zacharia said she moved to China shortly afterward and was offered a position in the international practice division of a Chinese law firm. She also defended her use of the word “lawyer,” saying she had consulted people in the legal field about how to describe her qualifications.

She said she was advised that her law degree, along with her international legal experience, allowed her to provide legal analysis without presenting herself as an attorney licensed to practice law. “I consulted, for a very long time, many people in the field: ‘Is it OK and acceptable if I label myself “lawyer,” not “attorney at law,” not “Katie Zacharia, Esquire,” but “lawyer,” and provide legal analysis, not legal advice?’” she tried to clarify in the interview.

Zacharia maintained that she had been “very careful” about how she described herself and had never presented herself as a practicing attorney. Earlier, a White House reporter asked her in which state she passed the bar exam, to which she responded that she “moved to China.” She later claimed that she misheard the question over the sound of Marine One and assumed the question concerned where she had gone after law school.