White House defends new press secretary amid questions about her legal credentials

Key points

• The White House is defending new press secretary Katie Zacharia after questions arose about her legal credentials.
• Zacharia said she passed the bar exam when she moved to China, but she does not appear registered in any state where she has lived.
• A watchdog group filed a complaint with the California State Bar Association seeking an investigation into her law practice claims.

The White House has defended new press secretary Katie Zacharia after questions were raised about her legal credentials. President Donald Trump described Zacharia as an attorney when announcing her appointment last week, and she has referred to herself as a lawyer.

When asked on Tuesday by a reporter in which state she had passed the bar exam required to be an attorney in the US, Zacharia said, standing alongside the president, "When I moved to China." She does not appear to be registered to the bar in any state where she has lived.

White House response

White House communications director Steven Cheung said Zacharia is "uniquely qualified and whip smart to help inform the American people". Zacharia said in a statement this week: "I practised international transaction law, with all the appropriate credentials."

When I moved to China.

— Katie Zacharia

Bar complaint and background

On Wednesday, watchdog group Campaign for Accountability filed a complaint with the California State Bar Association. They are seeking an investigation into whether Zacharia "repeatedly held herself out to be entitled to practise law without a licence to do so, conduct California law treats as a crime".

The 42-year-old political strategist graduated from Pepperdine University law school in California in 2011, the university confirmed. A law degree is not a licence to practise law in the US. Zacharia told the New York Times on Wednesday that when she first began appearing on cable news, she asked Pepperdine how she should identify herself. She said the university president advised her she could call herself a lawyer, but not an attorney.

Zacharia took the California bar exam after graduating but did not pass, according to the Wall Street Journal. California's bar exam is widely regarded as one of the hardest in the US. A person with direct knowledge told the outlet that Zacharia took the exam around the same time she was planning a wedding and preparing to move to China with her husband-to-be.

She moved to Beijing because of her husband's job at an American private equity firm. Zacharia has said she worked on "international transaction law" there. Her LinkedIn profile states she worked as an associate at Zhong Lun Law Firm in Beijing from 2011-13. In China, only Chinese citizens may obtain a licence to practise law; foreign employees may work at law firms in other roles.

In February last year, Zacharia said on conservative radio programme The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show that she had worked as outside counsel for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank during her time in China. The BBC has contacted the World Bank and IFC for comment. It is understood the World Bank Group sometimes retains outside law firms, and those firms decide which of their lawyers are assigned to which parts of any work. Zacharia has also served as general counsel for Fix California, a conservative non-profit started by Trump ally Ric Grenell, according to her LinkedIn profile.