Who is Katie Zacharia and why her appointment as Trump's press secretary has generated controversy

Who is Katie Zacharia and why her appointment as Trump's press secretary has generated controversy - Author, Editorial - Author's Name, BBC News Mundo - Publication Date - Reading Time: 6 min "California native and a lifelong conservative". This is how Katie Zacharia is defined, the novel White House spokesperson, who was appointed by President Donald Trump on October 9th. "It is a great honor for me to have recently appointed Katie Zacharia as press secretary," the president wrote on Truth Social. "She has an impeccable record of support and has been a loyal and brilliant follower since the beginning. Moreover, she is a devout fan and a MAGA member!" he added. The 41-year-old woman thus replaced journalist Karoline Leavitt at the beginning of this week, who announced her departure from the administration last August. "I want to thank President Trump for the trust he has placed in me. I have wanted to work for him for a long time," she said in her first and questioned press conference this Tuesday. In her debut, she appeared nervous and read without looking up for several seconds. Furthermore, she abruptly cut the press conference after answering some questions from a few media outlets. But beyond her performance, the new member of the US government is already facing her first controversy over the doubts that have arisen about her professional credentials as a lawyer. Who is she? Zacharia was born in March 1985 in California, United States. This political strategist graduated with a law degree from the University of Pepperdine in California in 2011, as the university itself has confirmed. According to local media, her connection to the Republican Party dates back to 2006, when she completed an internship at the National Republican Committee during George W. Bush's presidency. According to the British newspaper The Guardian, she was also the president of the student organization College Republicans while studying at Pepperdine. According to Trump himself, Zacharia had an active role in his last presidential campaign, "helping in key states for the undecided elections". In recent years, the new White House spokesperson has also built a career as a media commentator for outlets such as Fox News, CNN, Newsmax, and One America News with favorable appearances for the Republican administration. The spokesperson role is not her first role in the government. Before, she served as Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Public Affairs in the Department of Homeland Security, in the last term of former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. In April, she told CNN that she is a "great admirer of ICE and Border Patrol" and praised the work of the border official, Tom Homan, on immigration matters. According to the American outlet Axios, Zacharia served as senior communications advisor for Trump Media & Technology Group, the company that manages Truth Social, since June. The Controversy Trump described Zacharia as a lawyer when announcing her appointment last week. She herself has referred to herself as a lawyer. However, when a journalist asked her on Tuesday which state she had passed the bar exam to practice law in the US in, she replied along with the president: "When I moved to China". Doubts persist about whether she has been admitted to any of the states where she has lived. The White House communications director, Steven Cheung, stated that Zacharia is "especially qualified and very intelligent to help inform the American people". In response to questions about her credentials, Zacharia stated this week: "I practiced international transactions law, with all the proper credentials". On Wednesday, a watchdog organization, Campaign for Accountability, filed a complaint with the California Bar Association. It requested that an investigation be conducted into whether Zacharia "repeatedly presented herself to the public as if she had the right to practice law without the necessary license for it, a conduct that California law considers a crime". Although the university itself has confirmed that Zacharia graduated from Pepperdine Law School, a bachelor's degree does not equate to a license to practice law in the US. The new White House press secretary stated on Wednesday to the New York Times that when she started appearing on cable news channels, she asked Pepperdine University how she should introduce herself. According to her, the university rector had advised her that she could introduce herself as a lawyer, but not as an attorney, a term used in the United States to refer to a professional authorized to practice law. The new press secretary also explained to the newspaper that when she replied "China" to a question about her bar exam, it was a misunderstanding. Amidst the roar of the Marine One helicopter, she had mistakenly interpreted that the journalist had asked her: "Where were you after law school?". According to the Wall Street Journal, Zacharia took the California bar admission exam after graduating from law school but did not pass it. The California bar admission exam is considered by many to be one of the most difficult to pass in the United States. A person with direct knowledge of the matter told that Zacharia took the test more or less at the same time she was organizing her wedding and preparing to move to China with her future husband. She moved to Beijing due to her husband's work at an American venture capital company. Zacharia has stated that she worked there in "international transaction law". Her time in China Her LinkedIn profile indicates that she worked as an associate at the Zhong Lun firm in Beijing between 2011 and 2013. In China, only Chinese citizens can obtain a license to practice law. Foreign employees can work in law firms performing other functions. In February of last year, Zacharia stated on the conservative radio program The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show that she had worked as external legal counsel for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank during her stay in China. The BBC has contacted the World Bank and the IFC to gather their comments, as well as the Zhong Lun firm. It is known that the World Bank Group sometimes resorts to external law firms and that these are the ones who decide which lawyers from their staff are assigned to each part of the work. Zacharia has also served as general legal counsel for Fix California, a conservative non-profit organization founded by Ric Grenell, a Trump ally, according to her LinkedIn profile. On September 29th, the White House spokesperson shared a photo of her Pepperdine graduation on her social media. "A lot of time has passed since I graduated, but one of the best decisions I have ever made was never to study at @pepperdinelaw", it reads in the post that was edited 2 weeks ago. Her LinkedIn profile indicates that she worked as an associate at the Zhong Lun firm in Beijing between 2011 and 2013. This article contains content provided by Instagram. We request your permission before anything is loaded, as that site may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Instagram's cookie policy and privacy policy before accepting. To see this content, select 'accept and continue'. 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