White House defends new press secretary amid questions about her legal credentials
Katie Zacharia does not appear to be registered to the legal bar in any state where she has lived.
White House backs new press secretary as questions swirl over her legal qualifications
The White House is standing by its new press secretary, Katie Zacharia, as scrutiny grows over her legal credentials.
When President Donald Trump announced her appointment last week, he described Zacharia as an attorney, and she has also called herself a lawyer.
But on Tuesday, when a reporter asked her, while standing beside the president, which state she had passed the bar exam in to qualify as an attorney in the US, she replied: "When I moved to China."
She does not appear to be admitted to the bar in any state where she has lived. White House communications director Steven Cheung said Zacharia is "uniquely qualified and whip smart to help inform the American people".
In response to questions about her background, Zacharia said in a statement this week: "I practised international transaction law, with all the appropriate credentials."
On Wednesday, the watchdog group Campaign for Accountability submitted a complaint to the California State Bar Association.
The group is asking for an investigation into whether Zacharia "repeatedly held herself out to the public as entitled to practise law without a licence to do so, conduct California law treats as a crime".
The 42-year-old political strategist earned a law degree from Pepperdine University in California in 2011, the university confirmed.
A law degree does not by itself authorize someone to practise law in the US.
On Wednesday, the new White House press secretary told the New York Times that when she first started appearing on cable news, she asked Pepperdine how she should describe herself.
She said the university president advised her that she could call herself a lawyer, but not an attorney.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Zacharia took the California bar exam after graduating from law school but did not pass. California's bar exam is widely considered one of the toughest in the US.
A person with direct knowledge of the matter told the outlet that Zacharia took the exam around the same time she was planning a wedding and preparing to move to China with her husband-to-be.
She relocated to Beijing because of her husband's job at an American private equity firm. Zacharia has said she worked on "international transaction law" there.
Her LinkedIn profile says she worked as an associate at Zhong Lun Law Firm in Beijing from 2011-13.
In China, only Chinese citizens can obtain a licence to practise law. Foreign employees may work at law firms in other roles.
Last February, Zacharia said on the conservative radio programme The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show that she had worked as outside counsel for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank while in China.
It is understood that the World Bank Group sometimes hires outside law firms, and those firms determine which of their lawyers are assigned to specific parts of any work.
Zacharia has also worked as general counsel for Fix California, a conservative non-profit founded by Trump ally Ric Grenell, according to her LinkedIn profile.