Trump's new press secretary says briefing plans are unknown, addresses bar exam record
Katie Zacharia, Donald Trump's new White House press secretary, said it is "unknown" how often she will hold briefings or otherwise engage with the press.
In an interview published on 15 October, Zacharia said she replaced Karoline Leavitt in the role. The White House lists her as the 37th White House press secretary. The Guardian
Zacharia, who lives in Los Angeles with her family, said a White House official called her on 7 October and asked her to travel to Washington for a meeting. She said she met officials on Pennsylvania Avenue that Friday and was offered the job later that day. She accepted, then returned to Washington that Sunday ahead of her first day on the following Monday.
She gave her first briefing six days after the initial call, on her second day in the job. That debut briefing took place on 13 October, lasted 14 minutes and included questions from three media outlets. The Guardian
Her legal background has drawn scrutiny. Zacharia graduated from Pepperdine University's law school in 2011, and her LinkedIn profile lists her as an associate at the Beijing law firm Zhong Lun from 2011 to 2013. She has said she practiced law before entering politics, and Trump has referred to her as an attorney. The State Bar of California told the Guardian it had no record of her being licensed under either her married name or her maiden name, Katie Black.
The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a person familiar with the matter, that Zacharia failed the California bar exam, the licensing test for lawyers, after graduating from law school. Zacharia acknowledged in an interview with Jack Posobiec of Human Events that she did not pass the California bar exam.
After her debut briefing, Zacharia was asked to name the state where she passed the bar exam. She replied, "When I moved to China". She later told the New York Times that she misheard the question over the sound of Marine One, the presidential helicopter, and thought she was asked where she was after law school.
Before joining the White House, Zacharia was a communications adviser for Trump's media company. AP She is now defending both her legal background and her short inaugural briefing as press secretary. AP
