White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia insists she is an attorney. But report says there is no evidence she ever passed a bar exam in any state

Katie Zacharia began her role as White House press secretary this month after Karoline Leavitt left the position following the birth of her second child. In public appearances and media interviews, Zacharia has repeatedly described herself as an attorney or lawyer. President Donald Trump’s Truth Social post announcing her hiring referred to her as “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.”

Independent journalist Judd Legum examined those descriptions and reported that no state bar association website lists her as a member. The Washington Post reviewed the same records and said it could not locate any active or expired bar admissions under the name Zacharia or her maiden name, Black. Public records list her residence in California.

A spokesperson for the State Bar of California told the Post that it “has no record of Kate Sharon Zacharia or Kate Sharon Black having been licensed to practice law in California,” and that it also had no records under the nickname Katie.

State bar records and professional rules leave no clear licensing path

Legum checked bar association sites for California, Texas, and Washington, D.C., then expanded the search to all 50 states and the District of Columbia. He reported finding no evidence that Zacharia was ever admitted to practice law in any of those jurisdictions. Pepperdine’s own alumni materials list her as “Katie S. Zacharia (’07, JD ’11)” on the Dean’s Council, confirming she earned the degree.

Her LinkedIn profile shows legal-sounding roles after the 2011 graduation, including an associate position on the international practice team at the Zhong Lan Law Firm in Beijing and general counsel work for a nonprofit called Fix California.

She has also said she served as outside counsel to the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank in that period. Mediaite points out that earning a law degree alone does not authorize someone to hold themselves out as a lawyer in the United States; admission to a bar association normally requires passage of a bar exam plus a background review.

In California, advertising or holding oneself out as practicing law without being an active licensee is a misdemeanor. The statute allows punishment of up to one year in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both for a first offense, with a minimum of 90 days for a second offense. 

China, for its part, does not permit noncitizens to become lawyers or sit for its national legal exam. Foreigners who are already licensed elsewhere may advise on the laws of their home country only after they have practiced for at least two years in that country.

Zacharia’s profile indicates she began work at the Beijing firm a few months after graduation and lists no earlier position that would meet that two-year threshold. Outside the White House, when reporters asked where she had passed a bar exam, she answered, “when I moved to China.” She later told reporters she had “practiced international transactional law, with all the appropriate credentials.”

A White House official described the work as having “worked on international transaction law.” Her past online commentary, including her deleted posts on habeas corpus, has also drawn scrutiny. 

When Legum asked the White House whether Zacharia had ever been admitted to practice in any state, a general press-office email referred him to “the President’s TRUTH on Katie.” Legal ethics specialists who spoke with the Post underscored the distinction between a degree and a license. 

Bruce A. Green of Fordham University said a person is considered a lawyer only after admission to practice, which in most states means passing a bar exam and demonstrating proper character.

Leonard M. Niehoff of the University of Michigan Law School called the difference “a world of difference,” and Green noted that even a foreign license would still mislead U.S. audiences if the person did not make clear they are not licensed to practice in the United States.