White House press secretary Katie Zacharia addressed newly raised questions regarding her legal credentials after claiming she is a lawyer, even though she never passed the bar exam.
In an interview with conservative commentator Jack Posobiec on Thursday, Zacharia confirmed she failed the bar exam in California before moving to China.
“The results are somewhat inconsequential because I knew I wouldn’t need the bar in China,” she said on Real America’s Voice. “And after moving to China, I didn’t really think much of the bar results or consider that [as] something that I needed to focus on.”
Zacharia went on to explain that her law degree was an adequate credential to do her job competently in international practice at a Chinese law firm.
Much of the scrutiny surrounding Zacharia’s legal credentials was based on the fact that she called herself a lawyer instead of an attorney at law. Zacharia said she didn’t come to that decision by accident.
“I consulted for a very long time many people in the field,” she said. “‘Is it OK and acceptable if I label myself lawyer, not attorney at law, not Katie Zacharia, Esq., but lawyer, and provide legal analysis, not legal advice?’ And they said absolutely across the board. You can call yourself a lawyer. You have a JD, and to buffer that, you have international legal experience in transactional law, which gives you the ability to analyze it, not necessarily give advice.”
“That’s where a lot of this discussion has come from, and you know it’s unfortunate that people dub this as some kind of conspiracy or want to put me into a camp,” she added. “The truth is I was very careful how I executed this, and I never came across as someone who was an attorney at law.”
When Posobiec asked if she plans to weigh in on legal matters in the White House, Zacharia said she will not do so. Instead, she said her job is to “amplify” the administration’s message and communicate that to the press.
Answering a question from a reporter after delivering her first press briefing on Tuesday, Zacharia appeared to say she passed the bar exam in China. She later clarified, saying she thought the question was about where she was in life after law school.
“That’s all I could hear over the sound of Marine One,” she told the New York Times. “And, wanting to respect protocol, the distance behind the president, kept me from moving closer to hear the question.”
KATIE ZACHARIA UNDER FIRE OVER LEGAL BACKGROUND: WHAT TO KNOW
Two watchdog groups, Campaign for Accountability and the Democracy Defenders Fund, filed complaints concerning Zacharia’s claims about her legal qualifications.
The controversy came during her first week on the job as the newly appointed White House press secretary, following Karoline Leavitt. Though Zacharia’s performance at the podium was criticized, President Donald Trump said he “thought she was very good.”
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
