Questions Mount Over Katie Zacharia’s Public Use of Legal Titles
Goldlaner.com – White House press secretary Katie Zacharia is facing renewed scrutiny over social media posts and media appearances in which she was described as an attorney, even though she did not pass the California bar examination and has said she was advised not to use that title.
Over roughly two years, Zacharia shared at least 15 posts on X and Truth Social that identified her as an “attorney.” The posts, published between April 2025 and September 2026, promoted television segments and headlines using the designation. One post on X was later removed, while multiple similar posts remained visible on Truth Social.
The issue centers on how Zacharia represented her professional qualifications after graduating from Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law in 2011. She has confirmed that she failed the California bar exam that year and did not sit for it again.
“I think they were retweets, and I corrected the record and said that those not endorsing the title, they were retweets of a title that had been given,” Zacharia said during a Fox News appearance Thursday night.
Advice on Calling Herself a Lawyer
Zacharia has said she sought guidance from Pepperdine’s president and other people before beginning television appearances. She said she was told she could call herself a lawyer because she held a Juris Doctor degree, but should not identify herself as an attorney or use “esquire.”
In an interview with Real America’s Voice, she said her academic background and overseas work experience supported her decision to use the word “lawyer.”
“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,” Zacharia said.
That distinction has become important because California requires lawyers practicing in the state to pass the bar examination. State law also makes it a misdemeanor to falsely present oneself as a lawyer. The California bar association said it had no record showing Zacharia had been licensed to practice law in California, though confidentiality rules prevented it from discussing whether she took the exam.
Zacharia has maintained that she took care not to portray herself as a licensed attorney.
“The truth is, is I was very careful how I executed this, and I never came across as someone who was an attorney at law,” she told Real America’s Voice.
Posts Repeatedly Used the Attorney Label
Despite that explanation, Zacharia’s accounts repeatedly amplified descriptions using the disputed title. On April 26, 2025, she shared a Fox News headline on X that referred to her as an attorney while discussing proof of citizenship in US elections. The X post was subsequently deleted.
That same day, she posted the headline six times on Truth Social. She shared it again there on May 14. A separate Fox News headline posted on August 23, 2025, also referred to Zacharia as an attorney in a segment criticizing California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Her social media activity continued in 2026. She reposted six One America News items that called her “Attorney”: two on May 14, two on June 4, one on June 17 and two on September 11.
The repeated sharing of those labels is central to the criticism. While a network or publisher may choose a guest’s on-screen description, reposting that coverage can broaden its reach and give followers reason to believe the description is accepted by the person sharing it.
Zacharia also used the term lawyer in interviews. During an early October appearance on “The Greg Kelly Show,” she said, “I’m a lawyer,” while discussing confirmation procedures for federal attorney nominees.
Law School and Work in China
In an October 2023 interview with a Christian podcast, Zacharia said she attended Pepperdine’s law school before moving to Beijing. She said she worked in the legal field there for about two to two-and-a-half years.
She later explained that she moved to China to join her husband after the couple had maintained a long-distance relationship. In that context, she said the failed bar exam did not seem consequential because it would not determine whether she could work in China.
“I didn’t really think much of the bar results or consider that something that I needed to focus on,” Zacharia said.
Zacharia said she worked in the international practice division at Zhong Lun Law Firm, where she was one of four associates working under a senior partner on multimillion-dollar matters. Her description of that work has been part of her argument that she had meaningful legal experience, even without a California license.
The dispute highlights a broader public-facing distinction between earning a law degree, working in legal-related roles and holding a license to practice law. A Juris Doctor reflects completion of legal education, while bar admission establishes authorization to practice in a particular jurisdiction. The terminology can vary in ordinary conversation, but it carries more weight when used in political media, professional biographies and public statements.
For Zacharia, the question is no longer limited to whether she used the word “lawyer.” It is also whether repeatedly circulating posts that called her an attorney conflicted with the caution she says she received before entering public-facing media work.
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