White House Press Secretary Katie Zakaria, admitted on Thursday that she never passed the bar exam to become a lawyer in the U.S., even though she has presented herself as a lawyer, and Donald Trump has also referred to her as a lawyer.
Zakaria made this admission in an interview with conservative commentator Jack Posobiec, following a Wall Street Journal report according to which she failed the California Bar Exam in 2011 and has not been admitted to the bar in any other U.S. state where she has resided. Zakaraya is a graduate of Pepperdine University School of Law.
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Speaking with Posobiek, Zakaria confirmed that she took the bar exam in California, but did not pass them, explaining that she had been distracted at the time as she was preparing to get married and move to China due to her husband’s job. As she said, she “did not pay much attention” to the results, since she did not need to have passed the exams to practice her profession in China.
Zakaria also maintained that she never presented herself as an “attorney at law,” that is, as a licensed attorney, and that there is “a great deal of misinformation surrounding the fact that I described myself as a lawyer,” and added that she had consulted several experts on this specific issue.
“I was very careful about how I handled this. I never presented myself as someone who holds a law license,” she said.
Earlier this week, as Trump was departing for a trip to Alaska, reporters asked Zakaria in which state she had passed the bar exam. She replied, “I went to China,” causing confusion regarding her legal education and professional qualifications.
A White House official stated that Zakaria earned a law degree from Pepperdine University, a fact that the university also confirmed to CBS News. According to the same official, she subsequently moved to China with her husband, who worked for a U.S. private equity firm, while she focused on international trade law.
In a statement to CBS News on Thursday, Zakaria stated that she “practiced international trade law, possessing all the necessary professional qualifications,” without, however, specifying exactly what those were. It should be noted that only Chinese citizens are eligible to take the bar exam to obtain a license to practice law in China.
During an appearance on Fox News in April, Zakaria stated that she “lived in Beijing as a corporate lawyer for three years.”
Her Instagram bio also states that she is a lawyer. Meanwhile, Trump had described her in a post on Truth Social as “a distinguished attorney, a graduate of Pepperdine University and Pepperdine’s Caruso School of Law.”
However, whether she is actually entitled to use the terms “attorney” or “lawyer” is disputed, and this is an issue that has also concerned her. As she told The New York Times, when she began appearing on television networks, she had discussed with the president of Pepperdine University how she could describe her professional status. According to the newspaper, Zakaria said she had been warned not to use the titles “attorney” or “esquire,” but had been told she could use the term “lawyer.”
The White House Defends Zakaria
The White House maintained that Zakaria possesses “unique qualifications” for the position of press secretary.
“Katie is an outstanding and wonderful addition to the team,” White House Communications Director Steven Chung told CBS News.
“She has unique qualifications and exceptional intelligence to inform the American people about all the great things President Trump and his administration have done, and he will do an excellent job as press secretary,” he added.
On Wednesday, the Campaign for Accountability, a liberal nonprofit organization dedicated to holding public figures accountable, filed a complaint with the California State Bar, questioning whether Zakaria violated state law by presenting herself as an attorney without having passed the required bar exam. Zakaria lived with her family in California until she assumed her duties as White House press secretary.
The Campaign for Accountability cited Section 6126 of the California Business and Professions Code, which states that “any person who advertises or represents himself or herself as practicing or entitled to practice law, or who otherwise practices law, without holding an active license from the State Bar or other lawful authorization under law or judicial rule to practice law in the state at that time, commits a misdemeanor.”
“Ms. Zakaria has repeatedly presented herself as an attorney to bolster her reputation and credibility as a television commentator on legal issues and now as a spokesperson for the White House, but it appears that all of this was a lie,” said Michelle Kapersmith, executive director of the Campaign for Accountability.
“In California, calling yourself a lawyer without a license isn’t just an exaggeration for show. It’s a criminal offense. The State Bar should investigate whether Ms. Zakaria misled the public about her professional qualifications and hold her accountable if it is found that she did so,”, he added.
White House Launches Fierce Attack on the Organization That Filed the Complaint
Chung launched a fierce attack on the organization, which he described as left-leaning.
“This group that filed the ‘complaint’ is a radical left-wing organization run by rabid, brainless individuals suffering from a severe form of Trump Disorder Syndrome,” Tsung wrote in a post on X.
“No one takes them seriously because they’re deranged individuals,” he added.
For her part, Nora Freeman Engstrom, a professor of law at Stanford Law School, stated that the wording of the relevant California law leaves no room for doubt or misinterpretation.
“California law is absolutely clear: You cannot present yourself as an attorney if you are not licensed to practice law,” she told CBS News.
“And the law doesn’t just prohibit the unauthorized practice of law. It also prohibits anyone from pretending to be an attorney without the proper license,” he added.
“California law doesn’t just prohibit people from practicing law without a license. It also prohibits them from pretending they have the right to practice the profession. You don’t have to have set foot in a courtroom or represented even a single client to violate this provision,” he concluded.
Source: Proto Thema
