No record shows Trump’s new press secretary passed bar exam despite calling herself a lawyer

White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia has repeatedly described herself as a lawyer, but there is no evidence she ever passed a bar exam, Mediaite reports.

Independent journalist Judd Legum said he searched bar listings in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., and found no record of her admission. The Washington Post also found no active or expired admissions under her name or her maiden name, Black. The State Bar of California told the Post it “has no record of Kate Sharon Zacharia or Kate Sharon Black having been licensed to practice law in California.”

President Donald Trump described her on Truth Social as “a distinguished Graduate of Pepperdine University, and the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, an attorney.” She was also identified on screen as a lawyer in at least 18 Fox News appearances since March 2025.

Asked by reporters on Tuesday where she passed the bar, she appeared to reply, “when I moved to China.” Mediaite noted that Chinese rules bar foreigners from sitting its bar exam.

The White House directed Legum to Trump’s post. Legal ethics experts told the Post that calling oneself a lawyer without a licence raises serious ethical and legal problems.