Donald Trump’s new White House press secretary stunned reporters with an answer about her legal training in China as questions about her attorney qualifications swirl. 

Katie Zacharia, 41, a mother of four who was a mainstay on conservative broadcast shows before being tapped last week to replace Karoline Leavitt as White House press secretary, is being dogged by questions about her legal qualifications.

‘Katie is a distinguished Graduate of Pepperdine University, and the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, an attorney, and a frequent Commentator on outlets, including Fox News and Newsmax,’ Trump wrote while announcing the new press secretary.

But to become an attorney, not just a lawyer, one must pass a bar exam in the US – and Zacharia is not found in California’s state bar website, indicating she did not pass the exam in her home state.

In fact, Zacharia’s name was not found in the attorney directories of any US state or territory, says newsletter author Judd Legum, who has openly questioned whether the new press secretary has broken any laws related to falsely claiming to be an attorney. 

Exiting the White House along with the president on Tuesday afternoon, a reporter asked Trump where Zacharia passed her bar exam, a prerequisite to becoming an attorney. 

‘You said she’s an attorney. Where did she pass the bar exam? Which state?’ a reporter asked the president, who turned the question over to his press secretary. 

‘When I moved to China,’ Zacharia shot back without further explanation. 

New White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia told reporters she passed the bar exam to become a attorney when she ‘moved to China,’ prompting questions about her legal training

Just hours before saying that she took a bar exam in China, Zacharia held her first White House press briefing as the recently installed press secretary

Zacharia became known to the president for her ardent defences of his administration on cable networks like Fox News. She has become a sort of influencer among GOP circles 

Her response immediately raised questions among her critics. 

Under the current rules, bar exams are to be administered in person in the US. 

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It is unclear how Zacharia would have taken her US bar exam ‘in China’ as she claims. 

‘To be clear, there is zero chance Zacharia took the Chinese bar exam,’ Legum reacted on social media. ‘She doesn’t speak Chinese and only Chinese citizens can take it.’

While it’s true that only Chinese citizens can take the Chinese legal exam, Zacharia has said that she does speak a bit of Mandarin, telling the South China Morning Post previously that she would butt in on conversations to practice.

Zacharia lived and worked in Beijing, China, for roughly two to three years after graduating from Pepperdine University’s law school. 

She worked for the Zhong Lun Law Firm from about August 2011 to June 2014. Her husband, Tyler Zacharia, also worked in Beijing at the time for a private equity firm.  

‘I practiced international transaction law, with all the appropriate credentials,’ Zacharia told the Daily Mail in a statement. 

In addition to her roles in China, Zacharia has also served as the general counsel of conservative political group Fix California, according to her LinkedIn, and has claimed to be outside counsel for the World Bank Group and the International Finance Corporation.