Zacharia Bar Exam Answer Sparks Questions Over Press Secretary’s Credentials

White House – (Special Correspondent/Web Desk) – The Zacharia bar exam question has put the White House under pressure. The new press secretary gave an unclear answer when reporters asked where she passed the test.

Katie Zacharia started her new job on Tuesday. Her first day was far from smooth.

Reporters asked her where she had passed the bar exam. She replied, “When I moved to China.” She did not say more.

Questions grew on Wednesday. A watchdog group named Campaign for Accountability filed a complaint with the State Bar of California.

The group wants the bar to check whether Zacharia misled the public. It says she called herself a lawyer on television. It also says she listed herself as general counsel of a conservative nonprofit in California.

“Ms Zacharia has represented herself as a lawyer repeatedly to buttress her reputation and credibility,” said Michelle Kuppersmith, the group’s executive director.

President Donald Trump called Zacharia “an attorney” when he announced her job on Friday. But journalists have found no record that she holds a law license in any US state.

California’s state bar told US media it has no record of a license. It checked both her married name and her maiden name.

Zacharia gave a short statement to AFP. She said she practiced international transaction law “with all the appropriate credentials.” She did not say whether she holds a US law license.

Her background adds to the confusion. Zacharia is 41 and graduated from Pepperdine University’s law school in 2011. But a law degree alone does not allow someone to practice law.

🇺🇸 New White House Press Secretary stumbles on words in first press briefing

Katie Zacharia, a 41-year-old devotee of Donald Trump’s hard-right MAGA movement, made her briefing room debut by taking remarkably few questions while leaving no doubt who she believes has all the answers: Trump

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) October 14, 2026

Her professional profile says she once worked for a law firm in Beijing. Foreign nationals cannot sit China’s bar exam. They can do some legal work at Chinese law firms, though.

So far, Zacharia has not said where she was admitted to the bar, if she was admitted at all.

Her first press briefing also drew attention. It lasted only 14 minutes, and she read a lot from prepared notes.

She took questions from just three news organisations. All three are seen as friendly to Trump.

At one point she slipped and called the president her husband. Former press secretary Jen Psaki, now a TV host, said the moment felt like a “Saturday Night Live” sketch.

Trump saw it differently. He told reporters, “I thought she was very good.”

Zacharia took over from Karoline Leavitt, who left in August. Leavitt had been one of the strongest public defenders of Trump’s second term.

For now, the complaint is only a request for a review. The State Bar has not announced any finding.