Katie Zacharia faces bar exam questions as the White House defends her legal work

Questions are swirling around Katie Zacharia's legal résumé. A new report says the White House press secretary failed the bar exam, yet President Donald Trump has described her as a lawyer.

What the report says

On Thursday the Wall Street Journal reported the claim, relying on an anonymous person said to be familiar with the situation. That source says Zacharia sat for the bar not long after finishing law school at Pepperdine University's Caruso School of Law and did not pass.

She later moved to China with the man who would become her husband. In Beijing she took an associate role with a firm's international group.

The source told the paper that practicing attorneys advised her she could offer legal analysis based on her law degree plus her experience with international deals.

Her answer

Asked earlier where exactly she had passed the bar, Zacharia replied only "When I moved to China" and offered no further detail.

She later put out a written statement: "I practiced international transaction law, with all the appropriate credentials."

A White House official also noted that she holds a JD from Pepperdine. The official said she moved to China after graduation because her husband took a job with an American private equity firm. She handled international transaction law while living there.

Where the questions began

When Trump named her to the job on Truth Social he described her as "an attorney." Outlets that then searched the lists of licensed lawyers in California, Texas and Washington, D.C. could not find her.

Not a requirement for the job

The press secretary does not have to be a licensed lawyer. Karoline Leavitt, who held the job before her, studied politics and communication for her bachelor's degree and never enrolled in law school. The role comes with no set education requirement.

Even so, the bar exam confusion lands during a rough start. Her first press briefing was widely panned as a disaster. Insiders have told several outlets she may not hold the position for long.