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WH press secy. denies she misrepresented herself as a lawyer · DEEP INSIGHT

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  Speaker 1: Here's Trump's new press secretary appearing to admit that she
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  Speaker 1: did not pass the bar exam after reports surfaced that
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  Speaker 1: she's not a licensed attorney. This despite the fact that
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  Speaker 1: for years, Katie Zachariah appeared on TV and coverage identifying
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  Speaker 1: herself as a lawyer. President Trump also described her as
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  Speaker 1: a lawyer when he introduced her as his press secretary.
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  Speaker 1: Here's Zachariah on Real America's Voice Today.
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  Speaker 2: We just said, let's take this time and I'll take
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  Speaker 2: the bar and see what happens. The results are somewhat
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  Speaker 2: inconsequential because I knew I wouldn't need the bar in China.
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  Speaker 1: Of course, passing the bar is extremely consequential. Plenty of
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  Speaker 1: people fail it the first time around. That was in California.
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  Speaker 1: But But the results are not inconsequential. The reference that
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  Speaker 1: she made there to her husband was to his moving
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  Speaker 1: to China for work in 2011. Now, Zachariah goes on
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  Speaker 1: to try to explain that she was not misrepresenting herself
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  Speaker 1: as a lawyer.
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  Speaker 2: I consulted for a very long time, many people in
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  Speaker 2: the field, is it okay and acceptable if I label
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  Speaker 2: myself lawyer, not attorney at law, not Katie Zachariah Esquire,
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  Speaker 2: but lawyer and provide legal analysis, not legal advice. And
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  Speaker 2: they said, absolutely, absolutely across the board. The truth is,
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  Speaker 2: is I was very careful how I executed this. And
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  Speaker 2: I never came across as someone who was an attorney
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  Speaker 2: at law.
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  Speaker 1: But our K-File tonight has uncovered at least 15 social
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  Speaker 1: media posts where Zachariah shared identifying herself as an attorney
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  Speaker 1: despite never passing the bar. Some of those posts were
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  Speaker 1: shared repeatedly. At least one has since been deleted. Andrew
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  Speaker 1: Kaczynski broke this reporting and he joins us now to
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  Speaker 1: lay it all out.
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  Speaker 3: So what did you find, Andrew?
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  Speaker 4: Well, Zachariah has acknowledged that she was warned against using
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  Speaker 4: the title of attorney. She told The New York Times.
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  Speaker 4: She told The New York Times. that she consulted the
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  Speaker 4: president of Pepperdine University when she graduated from law school
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  Speaker 4: about how she should describe her qualifications on television. She
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  Speaker 4: said she would specifically advise not to call herself an
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  Speaker 4: attorney or use the title Esquire, but she was told
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  Speaker 4: she could call herself a lawyer. Now, we went back
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  Speaker 4: through her social media accounts, including a post that has
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  Speaker 4: since been deleted and found at least 15 instances over
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  Speaker 4: the past two years where she shared or reposted coverage
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  Speaker 4: identifying her as an attorney. I want to walk our
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  Speaker 4: viewers through some of them, which, to be clear, based
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  Speaker 4: upon what she said, would have been after she was
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  Speaker 4: told that she should not call herself Let's start with
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  Speaker 4: April 2025 when she shared this. Only Democrats don't want
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  Speaker 4: proof of citizenship in the U.S., attorney says. A Fox
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  Speaker 4: News headline describing Zachariah as an attorney. She shared it
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  Speaker 4: on X in a post that we found has since
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  Speaker 4: been deleted. But Erin, we also found that she shared
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  Speaker 4: that exact same headline six times on True Social that
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  Speaker 4: very same day. Take a look at all of these.
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  Speaker 4: Some of them were posting at her now boss, Donald Trump.
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  Speaker 4: And we then found she shared that same headline again
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  Speaker 4: just a few weeks later in May. And then in August, Erin,
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  Speaker 4: we found another Fox News headline that she shared. This
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  Speaker 4: one criticizing California Governor Gavin Newsom with it reading, Newsom
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  Speaker 4: is yappering on and not working, says attorney. You can
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  Speaker 4: see it right there.
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  Speaker 3: All right.
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  Speaker 1: So obviously, repeated use of the word attorney referring to
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  Speaker 1: to herself.
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  Speaker 5: Right.
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  Speaker 1: In quotes on on Fox News stories, as you point
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  Speaker 1: after she was told that she should not use that word.
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  Speaker 1: And you found, in fact, that this continued well into
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  Speaker 1: this year.
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  Speaker 4: Well, that's right, Erin. We found six additional. Posts she
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  Speaker 4: shared from One American News, where Zachariah reposted posts that
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  Speaker 4: identified her as an attorney. Those were shared between May
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  Speaker 4: and September of this year. Take a look at a
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  Speaker 4: few of these. Now, just to clear, these were headlines
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  Speaker 4: or posts that were written by news organizations, not Zachariah personally,
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  Speaker 4: that she was an attorney. But she did repeatedly say.
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  Speaker 4: amplify that description to her followers, despite acknowledging, as she said,
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  Speaker 4: that she was advised not to use that professional title. Now,
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  Speaker 4: we reached out to her and the White House over
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  Speaker 4: all of this. And a source familiar with her thinking
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  Speaker 4: told me that she didn't intend by sharing those posts
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  Speaker 4: to be an endorsement of the title attorney.
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  Speaker 6: Well, the new White House press secretary, Katie Zachariah, is
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  Speaker 6: trying to clear the air about her credentials. After word
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  Speaker 6: got out she failed the bar exam after graduating law school,
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  Speaker 6: she had this to say.
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  Speaker 2: I knew I would be living in China and the
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  Speaker 2: results of the bar were inconsequential and I sat for
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  Speaker 2: it because I didn't want to have a withdrawal status.
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  Speaker 7: So you said you consulted with many people and they
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  Speaker 7: advised you that it was okay to call yourself a
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  Speaker 7: lawyer but not an attorney, correct?
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  Speaker 3: Correct.
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  Speaker 7: Why get into this long drawn out definition between the
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  Speaker 7: difference between a lawyer and an attorney? Because I don't
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  Speaker 7: think most people see much of a distinction. Why don't
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  Speaker 7: you just say, I never practiced law?
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  Speaker 2: Well, Sean, when I moved back from the United States,
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  Speaker 2: I didn't retake the bar. I had four kids in
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  Speaker 2: six years. It was never my intent to go into
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  Speaker 2: the practice of law.
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  Speaker 3: Here's the thing.
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  Speaker 6: Since returning from China, she's also been on TV a
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  Speaker 6: lot and touting her credentials a lot.
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  Speaker 7: I went crazy.
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  Speaker 2: Through law school, practiced law, lived in China. I was
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  Speaker 2: a corporate lawyer in Beijing, China for three years. I
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  Speaker 2: moved over to Beijing for three years and practiced law
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  Speaker 2: as a corporate lawyer.
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  Speaker 3: We were the outside counsel for the World Bank and
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  Speaker 3: the IFC.
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  Speaker 2: I am a lawyer and I'm a rigorous researcher.
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  Speaker 4: I'm a lawyer.
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  Speaker 1: I went to Pepperdine, Pepperdine Law.
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  Speaker 2: I practice corporate law in Beijing, China.
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  Speaker 3: I went to law school.
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  Speaker 4: I graduated.
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  Speaker 7: I moved to China.
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  Speaker 3: I practice law.
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  Speaker 2: As a lawyer, the procedural steps are absolutely critical to
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  Speaker 2: ensure that they get this right.
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  Speaker 3: My panel is back with me. And let me just
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  Speaker 3: be clear.
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  Speaker 2: I am.
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  Speaker 6: I am a barred attorney in multiple states. I do
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  Speaker 6: not practice law. Obviously, I'm an anchor for CNN.
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  Speaker 3: But the idea that she is being.
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  Speaker 6: Attacked for her credentials is not, I don't think, the
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  Speaker 6: idea of being persnickety and the idea of tomato-tomato.
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  Speaker 3: It's the position that she's in and.
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  Speaker 6: The level of credibility and trust that must be assumed
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  Speaker 6: in that particular position. arena as the White House press
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  Speaker 6: secretary that I think is causing people to question, if
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  Speaker 6: this is a slippery comment, what would I trust in
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  Speaker 6: the future?
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  Speaker 3: How do you see it?
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  Speaker 8: I mean, I think it's exactly that. She's supposed to
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  Speaker 8: be the White House press secretary. She's supposed to say things.
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  Speaker 8: And people are supposed to, the public is supposed to
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  Speaker 8: believe what she's saying. Now, that's been a standard that
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  Speaker 8: not applies universally. But on your first day, basically, like
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  Speaker 8: lying about your credentials. If you're going to lie about
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  Speaker 8: your own history, how are you going to know the
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  Speaker 8: facts about what's happening in the government? I think it's like, I.
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  Speaker 3: Mean, it's kind of bizarre.
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  Speaker 6: And by the way, she doesn't need to be a
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  Speaker 6: lawyer to be a White House press secretary.
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  Speaker 8: She shouldn't have lied.
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  Speaker 5: Look, I don't know that she lied or she didn't lie.
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  Speaker 5: It doesn't matter. What matters is She spent, what did
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  Speaker 5: we watch, just five, six clips of spending political capital
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  Speaker 5: explaining her resume and not explaining the president's policy positions.
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  Speaker 5: That's incompetence. So you have an incompetent press secretary. Now
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  Speaker 5: we know because she can't focus on representing the president
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  Speaker 5: and his policies. She's talking about whether she.
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  Speaker 3: Says she's a lawyer, she practices a lot of jobs.
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  Speaker 3: To be fair, she's being asked about that.
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  Speaker 6: But my point is, is the incompetence associated with her
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  Speaker 6: or those who choose her?
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  Speaker 3: She didn't do her job.
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  Speaker 5: Her job is to represent the president and his policies,
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  Speaker 5: and she's done nothing of the sort.
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  Speaker 3: She's had the job for a week. Not even a week.
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  Speaker 3: She was there for five minutes.
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  Speaker 9: Well, and Look, we're two weeks from the midterm elections.
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  Speaker 9: To Rick's point, this is a time when she could
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  Speaker 9: be on TV talking to reporters, building relationships with reporters.
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  Speaker 5: And you know the reporters are going to pick up.
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  Speaker 4: Yes.
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  Speaker 3: You should know.
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  Speaker 7: Yes.
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  Speaker 9: But instead, she's having to do these interviews talking about this.
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  Speaker 9: She is the story. And when you're a White House
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  Speaker 9: press secretary, you're not you can't be the story. It's
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  Speaker 9: just such a this this is a departure, I think,
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  Speaker 9: in many ways from Caroline Leavitt. talking to Republicans, talking
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  Speaker 9: to Democrats, even whether you agree with what Caroline Leavitt
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  Speaker 9: says or not. The thing I hear is game respects game.
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  Speaker 9: She's a very effective political communicator. There's a lot of
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  Speaker 9: questions about, you know, whether Katie Zachariah can get to
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  Speaker 9: that level.
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  Speaker 3: Well, let's go back. I want to hear a comment.
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  Speaker 6: But there is often never sort of perfect analogies of
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  Speaker 6: these sort of instances. But Kayleigh McEnany, who we remember
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  Speaker 6: from the first administration was She also a graduate of
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  Speaker 6: law school. Here's how she has handled this very question.
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  Speaker 6: Also not being a practicing attorney.
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  Speaker 3: Listen to what she has said.
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  Speaker 5: But Kayla, I'm curious as an attorney, as someone that
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  Speaker 5: went to school for this. Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: You know, I'm not a practicing attorney.
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  Speaker 2: I did get my Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School.
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  Speaker 2: And what I learned there is, look, you zealously advocate
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  Speaker 2: for your client.
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  Speaker 6: So she has drawn a distinction, I think, very understanding
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  Speaker 6: the nuance that I think she was hoping would not
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  Speaker 6: be assigned to her the way that it's for Ms.
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  Speaker 3: Zachariah. What do you think?
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  Speaker 10: Look, she didn't have to go out there on the
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  Speaker 10: first day, right? And she said it.
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  Speaker 3: But she probably did have to go out there on
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  Speaker 3: the first day. She was instructed to. She said that.
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  Speaker 10: She could have gone out there and just said, let
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  Speaker 10: me just introduce myself. I will hear a few things
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  Speaker 10: I want to say. I'm going to come back soon.
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  Speaker 10: And then go study.
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  Speaker 3: Go get ready.
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  Speaker 10: Many press secretaries in the White House, Pentagon, State Department
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  Speaker 10: get the job. poke their heads out to wave hello
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  Speaker 10: to everybody, and then bunker down for a couple of weeks.
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  Speaker 10: Those couple of weeks are really important so you can
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  Speaker 10: get up to speed. It's also really important when those
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  Speaker 10: couple of weeks are right before the midterm election.
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  Speaker 11: If she had not taken questions, we would be sitting
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  Speaker 11: here at this panel talking about how she's bad at
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  Speaker 11: her job for not taking questions. She was told to
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  Speaker 11: go out there. She answered three questions.
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  Speaker 5: She broke news.
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  Speaker 11: She did exactly as she was instructed to do. And
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  Speaker 11: now she is being lambasted in the press, I think
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  Speaker 11: partially because she's an attractive woman.
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  Speaker 3: But on the lawyer thing, who.
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  Speaker 11: Again, you poll 100 Americans and you ask them if
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  Speaker 11: somebody graduated from law school, if they're a lawyer, they
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  Speaker 11: would say yes.
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  Speaker 3: It sounds like she practiced law in Beijing.
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  Speaker 11: I don't know her entire resume and I haven't been
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  Speaker 11: able to personally track it down.
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  Speaker 3: But if you practice law in Beijing, you're a lawyer.
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  Speaker 11: She's not offering advice to clients here in the United
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  Speaker 11: States without a bar. She's on TV talking about things.
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  Speaker 8: Do you think she had a strong performance representing the
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  Speaker 8: president and his administration on her first day out?
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  Speaker 3: Do you think that was a strong performance? I think
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  Speaker 3: she knew.
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  Speaker 11: Do you know how hard it is to get up
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  Speaker 11: there and do.
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  Speaker 8: Something like that?
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  Speaker 3: Actually, I have briefed in that room, and it is hard.
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  Speaker 8: And the first time I did it. I managed to
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  Speaker 8: answer questions and not look at my look at notes
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  Speaker 8: all the time.
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  Speaker 3: And I hope I did.
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  Speaker 8: I actually represented the administration well. But I think my
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  Speaker 8: performance was a little bit stronger than hers. And she's
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  Speaker 8: actually supposed to be the press secretary, not just a briefer.
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  Speaker 3: She go ahead. Well, no, no.
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  Speaker 9: I'm just I'm thinking there's a lot of questions not
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  Speaker 9: only about her performance, but also about the prep process,
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  Speaker 9: as we were talking about. Earlier today, she said in
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  Speaker 9: another interview with the conservative outlet that she received her prep,
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  Speaker 9: the briefing on Columbus Day.
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  Speaker 3: That was Monday.
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  Speaker 9: And then she briefed on Tuesday what she was offered
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  Speaker 9: the job on Friday, came out to Washington for the
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  Speaker 9: interview on Wednesday.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, it's a whirlwind.
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  Speaker 9: The White House pushed her out there and did this.
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  Speaker 9: So I think there's just as much, I guess, scrutiny
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  Speaker 9: against the prep process as it is towards her.
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  Speaker 3: I think the issue is not going to be resolved.
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  Speaker 6: I think there are going to be questions about whether
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  Speaker 6: she held herself out to be an attorney in a
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  Speaker 6: way that was violative of the laws in some states
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  Speaker 6: that say you cannot. I have no idea if she did,
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  Speaker 6: but I do not think that she's being criticized because
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  Speaker 6: she's an attractive woman.
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  Speaker 3: Otherwise, I'd be criticized all day long.
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  Speaker 11: Vanity Fair.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you so much, everyone. I'm done.