President Donald Trump’s new press secretary, Katie Zacharia, opened up a new line of questions with an unexpected answer when asked where she had passed the bar exam.
Trump has described Zacharia as “an attorney,” and she has repeatedly done the same on national TV. But a new investigation by Popular Information’s Judd Legum found no evidence that she has ever been admitted to practice law in any state, and the question came up Tuesday after her debut press conference.
“Trump was asked what state Zacharia passed the bar exam,” Legum posted on X. “Trump deferred to Zacharia to answer. Zacharia said, ‘When I moved to China.’ Which makes absolutely no sense. She appears to waive away follow up questions.”
Zacharia earned a law degree, but that alone doesn’t authorize someone to practice law. That requires admission to a state bar, which usually means passing a bar exam. Legum’s search of bar records in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., turned up no sign that she holds a law license.
She isn’t listed with the State Bar of California, where she lives, or with the bars in Texas and D.C., where she has also worked.
“After graduating from law school in 2011, Zacharia moved to China, where she worked at Zhong Lun, a large Chinese law firm,” Legum reported. “It is quite plausible for a law school graduate who is not admitted to practice law in any state to work for a firm in China, since the work may not involve American courts.”
“But Zacharia has claimed that, while in China, she served as ‘outside counsel’ to both the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC),” he added. “The World Bank and the IFC employing a recent law school graduate with little to no experience as ‘outside counsel’ is less plausible.”
Zacharia’s answer drew immediate skepticism.
“To be clear, there is zero chance Zacharia took the Chinese bar exam,” Legum posted. “She doesn’t speak Chinese and only Chinese citizens can take it.”
“Insane that this is who he hired for the job,” marveled podcaster Kacee Allen. “Where is Trump even finding these people?”
“Given her performance this morning she couldn’t pass an English language exam either,” joked popular Bluesky user Debbie Hemenway. “Maybe she got her license wherever Melania Trump got her advanced degrees.”
“The press secretary is a temu attorney?” asked Bluesky user I dug coal with Baby Billy.