Donald Trump introduced Katie Zacharia to America as an attorney. She has called herself a lawyer on TV for more than a year. Now the Wall Street Journal reports that the new White House press secretary took the California bar exam in 2011 and failed it.
No state has a record of licensing her. Her first week on the job has turned into a week of explaining a résumé.
"When I Moved to China"
It started on Tuesday. Standing next to Trump, Zacharia was asked which state she passed the bar in. Trump turned to her and asked, "Which state?" Her answer, according to the BBC, was "When I moved to China."
That answer made things worse. China only licenses its own citizens to practice law. Foreigners can work at Chinese firms, but they cannot sit for the national bar or practice in court.
A Chinese law expert at the University of Wisconsin told Snopes there was no possibility she ever passed China's bar exam.
The Bar Exam She Didn't Pass
Late Wednesday, the Journal reported that Zacharia sat for the California bar after finishing law school at Pepperdine in 2011. She did not pass. The paper cited a person with direct knowledge, who said she took the test while planning a wedding and a move to China.
Zacharia has not publicly confirmed or denied the report. She now says she misheard Tuesday's question over the noise of Marine One and thought she was asked where she went after law school.
No License Anywhere
Reuters searched for her and found no record of Zacharia being admitted to the bar in any state or in Washington, D.C. Snopes checked lawyer directories in all 50 states plus D.C. and came up empty too.
The State Bar of California, where she lives, told Newsweek it has no record of her ever being licensed under her married or maiden name.
Lawyer, Attorney, General Counsel
Zacharia earned a law degree from Pepperdine in 2011, the university confirmed. She told the New York Times that Pepperdine's president advised her she could call herself a lawyer, but not an attorney.
Trump didn't get the memo. His announcement called her an attorney. Her LinkedIn lists her as general counsel at Fix California, a group founded by Trump ally Ric Grenell. Grenell told Reuters her work there included "leading the outside counsel, who were our lawyers."
Now a Watchdog Wants Answers
On Wednesday, Campaign for Accountability filed a complaint with the State Bar of California. It also went to her local district attorney and to D.C.'s lawyer discipline office.
California law makes it a misdemeanor to hold yourself out as entitled to practice law without a license. The penalty is up to a year in county jail or a $1,000 fine. The group's director said calling yourself a lawyer without a license there "isn't puffery; it's a crime."
The complaint asks for an investigation. Zacharia has not been charged with anything.
The White House Response
Zacharia says she "practiced international transaction law, with all the appropriate credentials," but has not said which credentials. Communications director Steven Cheung called her uniquely qualified and "whip smart" and attacked the watchdog as a leftist group.
Trump's Republican White House has not produced a single document showing she was ever licensed to practice law. Her first briefing lasted under 15 minutes and took questions from three reporters.
The Bottom Line
The job is to tell Americans the truth from the White House podium. Trump's new spokesperson couldn't give a straight answer about her own résumé, and the Republican administration's answer is name-calling instead of a license number.
Sources: The Wall Street Journal (via Forbes, Siladitya Ray); Reuters (Trevor Hunnicutt, Karen Sloan, Joe Cash); BBC (Sareen Habeshian); NBC News (Megan Brand, Monica Alba, Lauren Zola); Snopes; Newsweek; Mediaite; The Hill; The Independent.