Donald Trump’s new press secretary, Katie Zacharia, is facing intense backlash over her legal credentials. She drew further attention by refusing to take questions from reporters. The incident comes on the heels of Trump’s “attorney” claim about her.
Katie Zacharia declines questions from White House reporters amid scrutiny over her legal credentials
According to TMZ, Zacharia met a group of reporters on the White House’s North Lawn, but immediately declined to take questions. “I’m not taking any questions,” she told the assembled media.
Zacharia also expressed her willingness to work with reporters and encouraged them to contact her by phone. However, her refusal to answer questions drew criticism, given her role as White House spokesperson.
The incident followed intense scrutiny of Zacharia’s legal credentials. The controversy began when Trump introduced her as an “attorney”. However, The Wall Street Journal has reported that Zacharia did not pass the California bar exam after graduating from law school.
Searches of attorney licensing records in California, Texas, and Washington, D.C., reportedly did not find her listed under either her married or maiden name. Zacharia later moved to Beijing, where she worked as an associate on the international-practice team at Zhong Lun Law Firm.
When asked in which state she had passed the bar exam, Zacharia responded, “When I moved to China.” She later defended her credentials, saying, “I practiced international transaction law, with all the appropriate credentials.”
Although Zacharia holds a law degree from Pepperdine University, she may not be licensed to practice law in a particular jurisdiction. A law license is not required to serve as White House press secretary. However, answering questions from journalists is a vital part of the role.
The exchange marks one of Zacharia’s early tests in the role. During an earlier press briefing, she reportedly ended her interaction with reporters in under 15 minutes. Reportedly, she answered only three questions from reporters during that briefing. She also reportedly misspoke, referring to her husband as “my president” during the briefing. The majority of her address went into unstinted praise for the president.
