Fresh off her first week as White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia has dodged questions about her claiming to be an attorney and argued President Donald Trump never asked her about her legal training.
Zacharia, a mainstay talking head on Fox News and conservative outlets who often had the title of 'attorney' while delivering her political hot takes, has come under scrutiny for embracing those descriptions despite never passing a US bar exam.
When pressed on whether she passed the bar earlier this week, Zacharia responded that she did get one in China - where she worked after graduating Pepperdine University Law School - baffling reporters since the test isn't offered there, and US citizens typically cannot take Chinese legal exams.
She later cleared up that she never passed the bar exam since it wasn't necessary for her job in China, where the US qualification would not have carried water.
In an interview on Friday morning with Fox News about her 'tough week,' Zacharia was pressed unusually hard by the hosts once again about why she's described herself as a an attorney in the past.
'It's not an easy job to be the press secretary, and you never want to be the story,' Fox & Friends host Lawrence Jones said. 'But I have to ask, do you wish you would have disclosed to the president about the bar and not passing the bar?'
'Well, Lawrence, those questions weren't asked,' Zacharia shot back.
'I'm being hired as White House press secretary and not White House counsel. The conversations and the reason I was hired was to represent the president in the press.'
'It's not an easy job to be the press secretary, and you never want to be the story,' Fox & Friends host Lawrence Jones said. 'But I have to ask, do you wish you would have disclosed to the president about the bar and not passing the bar'
'Well, Lawrence, those questions weren't asked,' Zacharia shot back. 'I'm being hired as White House press secretary and not White House counsel.'
Make no mistake, the controversy is not that Zacharia did not pass the bar, it's that she held herself as a attorney when she did not actually pass the bar exam, which is a prerequisite to becoming an attorney.
In many states, like California where Zacharia was living before this week, there are legal ramifications for improperly identifying oneself as an attorney.
'Katie is a distinguished Graduate of Pepperdine University, and the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, an attorney, and a frequent Commentator on outlets, including Fox News and Newsmax,' Trump wrote while announcing the new press secretary last week.
The new press secretary further became the headline when she said on Tuesday that she passed the bar exam in China.
'You said she's an attorney. Where did she pass the bar exam? Which state?' a reporter asked the president, who turned the question over to his press secretary.
'When I moved to China,' Zacharia answered without further explanation. Later, she admitted that she misheard the question.
But her response immediately provoked further questions.
'One cannot take an American state bar exam in China. Bar exams are administered at designated testing locations in each state of the union,' California Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu posted on X.
Zacharia started her job as press secretary on Tuesday after being announced for the role on Friday
She confused reporters on Tuesday after saying she passed the bar in China, though she later said she misheard the question
Zacharia held a press briefing the morning of her first day on the job
'Are Katie Zacharia and trump lying when they say she is an attorney? If not, then she needs to disclose in what state she passed the bar.'
Zacharia lived and worked in Beijing, China, for roughly two to three years after graduating from Pepperdine University's law school.
She worked for the Zhong Lun Law Firm from about August 2011 to June 2014. Her husband, Tyler Zacharia, also worked in Beijing at the time for a private equity firm.
'I practiced international transaction law, with all the appropriate credentials,' Zacharia told the Daily Mail in a statement earlier this week.
In addition to her roles in China, Zacharia has also served as the general counsel of conservative political group Fix California, according to her LinkedIn, and has claimed to be outside counsel for the World Bank Group and the International Finance Corporation.