Katie Zacharia Is Having a Tough First Week at Work

Katie Zacharia has had a tricky first week at work.

Her first briefing as the brand new White House press secretary lasted about 14 minutes, and he or she took three questions. Then got here scrutiny over her authorized profession.

During a Thursday look on “Hannity” on Fox News — recognized to be pleasant territory for the Trump administration — Zacharia mentioned she had accomplished her “best possible” in her debut and addressed the criticism over her authorized profession.

“What I really feel is I actually stepped as much as the plate to do the press convention, Sean, with little or no prep time,” Zacharia advised host Sean Hannity.

Zacharia mentioned she had been on the job for “lower than possibly eight hours” and solely obtained briefing supplies on Tuesday morning — the day of the press convention.

She additionally responded to criticism that she had taken questions solely from conservative retailers, saying she had known as on the Daily Mail, which “isn’t recognized to be a conservative outlet or pleasant to conservatives.”

Zacharia mentioned she “most likely ought to have stepped apart” after introducing herself, relatively than take questions.

Hannity then requested Zacharia about her background in legislation.

She confirmed that she had taken the bar examination however had not handed, and had not retaken it.

Zacharia mentioned she graduated from Pepperdine the identical week she obtained married, and deliberate to maneuver to China. However, she had already registered for the examination.

“The outcomes of the bar had been inconsequential, and I sat for it as a result of I did not need to have a withdrawal standing,” she mentioned.

In China, she mentioned she obtained a job within the “global observe of a Chinese legislation agency” the place she “was doing cross-country border transactions and multimillion greenback shareholder agreements.”

Zacharia additionally confirmed that she consulted with authorized professionals over whether or not she may name herself a lawyer as a result of she had a “legitimate Juris Doctor from an excellent legislation faculty.”

Hannity then introduced up a Thursday CNN report about how she had shared a number of social media posts through which she described herself as an lawyer.

“I believe they had been retweets, and I corrected the report and mentioned that that is not endorsing the title. They had been retweets of a title that had been given,” Zacharia mentioned.

Scrutiny over her authorized background

Over the previous week, questions have mounted over Zacharia’s authorized credentials.

She graduated from Pepperdine University’s Caruso School of Law in 2011, however the Substack publication Popular Information reported on Tuesday that she had not been admitted to any state bar.

On Wednesday, two watchdog teams filed complaints with California’s state bar, calling on it to research whether or not Zacharia had violated state legislation by calling herself a lawyer.

Her work expertise in China has additionally drawn consideration to her authorized credentials.

Chinese legislation specialists advised Business Insider that solely Chinese nationals can take the nation’s bar examination. Foreign workers at global legislation corporations can work on some transactions with out passing it, however their position is restricted.

“She was by no means a lawyer in China. It does not imply she did not do law-related work, however she was by no means a lawyer in China,” Jacques deLisle, a professor on the University of Pennsylvania legislation faculty who research the Chinese authorized system, advised Business Insider.