Trump press secretary acknowledges she did not pass California bar
What's new: Katie Zacharia called the result "inconsequential," saying she soon moved to China and did not expect to practice there.
White House press secretary Katie Zacharia acknowledged Oct. 15 that she did not pass the California bar exam, addressing scrutiny over legal credentials that President Donald Trump referenced when naming her to the post. In an interview with Real America’s Voice, Zacharia said she took the exam while preparing to marry and move to China, where her husband worked in private equity, and later treated the result as unimportant because she did not expect to need a bar license there. Zacharia, who earned a JD from Pepperdine Law School in 2011, said legal professionals told her she could describe herself as a lawyer based on her degree and international transactional work. The American Bar Association says U.S. law graduates cannot practice law or present themselves as attorneys before passing a bar exam and joining a state bar.