Trump's new press secretary faces scrutiny over credentials

The White House is currently facing scrutiny over the credentials of new press secretary Katie Zacharia, with a US watchdog group filing a complaint with the State Bar of California. The group, Campaign for Accountability, has asked the bar to investigate whether Zacharia has misled the public about her legal qualifications by repeatedly presenting herself as a lawyer without a license.

Zacharia, who has defended her reputation by claiming to be a lawyer, has described herself as a general counsel of a California-based conservative non-profit organization. However, there is no record of her being licensed to practice law in any US state. Trump initially described her as an attorney during her appointment announcement, but journalists have found no evidence to support this claim.

Zacharia, who graduated from Pepperdine University's law school in 2011, cannot sit for China's bar exam due to her foreign nationality, and her performance as White House press secretary on her first day was criticized as unprepared and inaccurate.

Brief written by urgent.news from New Straits Times's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.