Trump's New Press Secretary Says It Is 'Unknown' How Often She Will Deal With Media
Katie Zacharia, the new White House press secretary under US President Donald Trump, told the Guardian it is unclear how often she will brief reporters. She is also facing scrutiny over her legal credentials.
Katie Zacharia, the new White House press secretary who replaced Karoline Leavitt as US President Donald Trump's chief spokesperson, told the Guardian on Thursday that it is "unknown" how much she will engage with the press or hold regular briefings. At the same time, reporters and watchdog groups are questioning her legal qualifications.
A rapid appointment
According to Zacharia, a White House official called her on 7 October, asking her to travel from Los Angeles, where she lives with her family, to Washington for a meeting. She declined to say who made the call. She travelled the next day, met officials on Friday and was offered the job that same day, which she accepted. She led her first briefing on her second working day, and it was widely criticised as lacklustre.
Questions over her legal status
After the debut briefing, reporters asked which state she had passed the bar exam in. Zacharia replied: "When I moved to China." She later told the New York Times she had misheard the question over the noise of Marine One, the presidential helicopter. The Wall Street Journal reported that she failed the California bar exam, and the State Bar of California told the Guardian it has no record of her being licensed in the state. In an interview with the conservative outlet Human Events, Zacharia acknowledged she did not pass the California bar.
A person familiar with the matter said she stands by calling herself a lawyer, citing her law degree and international transactional law experience. The Campaign for Accountability, a non-profit watchdog, has asked the State Bar of California to examine whether she misled the public.
Earlier career
After graduating from Pepperdine University's law school in 2011, Zacharia worked at the Beijing law firm Zhong Lun until 2013. Her LinkedIn profile then shows a 10-year gap; Wired reported she worked as an affiliate marketer for Beachbody. She later served as an adviser to Trump Media Group and briefly as a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security.
On how often she will brief, Zacharia said Trump "is his best spokesperson" and that she will interact "as needed".
