Trump's new press secretary under scrutiny over claims she is a lawyer

Washington — The White House is standing by its newly appointed press secretary, Katie Zacharia, after questions about her legal credentials overshadowed her first day in the job — including a moment when, asked which state she had passed the bar exam in, she answered: "When I moved to China."

President Donald Trump described Ms Zacharia as "an attorney" when announcing her appointment last week, and she has referred to herself as a lawyer in television appearances for years. But she does not appear to be registered with the bar in any state where she has lived, and the State Bar of California confirmed to US media it has no record of her holding a licence under either her married or maiden name. ​

The Wall Street Journal reported that Ms Zacharia took the California bar exam after graduating from Pepperdine University's law school in 2011 but did not pass, with a person familiar with the matter saying she took it around the time she was planning her wedding and preparing to relocate to China, where her husband worked in private equity. A law degree alone does not qualify someone to practise law in the United States. ​

Her professional profile lists her as an associate at the Beijing-based Zhong Lun Law Firm from 2011 to 2013 — and more recently as general counsel of a California conservative non-profit founded by Trump ally Ric Grenell. In China, only Chinese citizens are eligible to obtain a licence to practise law; foreign employees may work at firms in other roles. ​

'A misunderstanding'

Ms Zacharia has attributed the confusion to a misunderstanding. She told the New York Times that when she first began appearing on cable news, she asked Pepperdine how she should identify herself, and was advised by the university's president that she could call herself a lawyer — but not an attorney. She said her "China" answer came because, above the noise of the presidential helicopter Marine One, she mistakenly believed the reporter had asked where she had gone after law school. ​

In a statement, she said: "I practised international transaction law, with all the appropriate credentials" — without clarifying whether she holds a US law licence.

On Wednesday, the watchdog group Campaign for Accountability filed a complaint with the California State Bar, seeking an investigation into whether she "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 White House has dismissed the scrutiny. Communications director Steven Cheung said Ms Zacharia is "uniquely qualified and whip smart to help inform the American people". ​

Rocky debut

The credentials questions followed a difficult first briefing on Tuesday, which lasted just 14 minutes. Ms Zacharia read extensively from prepared notes, took questions from only three news organisations — all considered sympathetic to the president — and at one point accidentally referred to Mr Trump as her husband. Former press secretary Jen Psaki compared the performance to a "Saturday Night Live" sketch, though Mr Trump told reporters: "I thought she was very good." ​

Ms Zacharia succeeds Karoline Leavitt, who stepped down in August after becoming one of the most prominent public defenders of the Trump administration. She takes the podium at a fraught moment: the president's approval ratings have fallen to record lows with midterm elections weeks away, and the White House is locked in a legal battle with parts of the press corps after restricting access for several news organisations it views as unfriendly.

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The State Bar has not yet indicated whether it will open an investigation.

Source BBC NEWS