After Saying She Practiced Law, White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia Confirms She Never Passed Bar Exam

Zacharia describes her exam

Zacharia told Posobiec on Thursday that she took the California bar exam and failed. She said she was focused on plans to marry and move to China for her husband’s job, and did not think much about the results.

She said passing the exam was not necessary for her work in China. Zacharia also said she had been careful not to present herself as an attorney at law. A White House official said she earned a juris doctor from Pepperdine, which the university confirmed to CBS News.

Work and credentials in China

The White House official said Zacharia moved to China with her husband, who worked for an American private equity firm, and that she worked on international transaction law. Zacharia told CBS News she practiced that area of law “with all the appropriate credentials,” but the credentials she meant were not specified.

Dispute over professional titles

Zacharia told The New York Times that she discussed how to describe herself with Pepperdine’s president as she began appearing on cable news. The Times reported that she said she was advised against using “attorney” or “esquire,” but was told “lawyer” was acceptable.

The White House has called Zacharia “uniquely qualified” for her press secretary role. Whether she can properly use the titles lawyer or attorney is now disputed.

Complaint prompts legal scrutiny

The Campaign for Accountability filed a complaint with the State Bar of California on Wednesday, questioning whether Zacharia broke state law by calling herself a lawyer without passing the bar. The watchdog’s executive director, Michelle Kuppersmith, said the bar should investigate and hold Zacharia accountable if she misled the public.

A White House spokesperson, Cheung, dismissed the group in a post on X, calling it a radical leftist organization. Stanford Law School professor Nora Freeman Engstron said California law bars both practicing law without a license and pretending to be entitled to practice law.