New White House press secretary Katie Zacharia faces mounting questions about her resume as she takes over as the public face of the Trump administration.

Zacharia has long described herself as a lawyer as she has worked to establish herself as a commentator for outlets like Fox News and Newsmax.

But so far, she and the White House have offered no evidence that she passed the bar exam in any state or in China, where she worked for a large law firm years ago.

The questions add to the confusion surrounding US President Donald Trump’s decision to hire Zacharia, who had worked for his social media company for only a few months when he announced her appointment.

Zacharia had an eyebrown-raising debut as Trump’s official press secretary on Tuesday (local time). It lasted only 14 minutes and allowed just three questions from journalists as a visibly nervous Zacharia repeatedly fumbled her words and struggled with her answers.

On Wednesday (US time), Trump was asked by journalists where Zacharia had passed the bar exam after a report by independent outlet Popular Information that there was no evidence that she ever passed it or been admitted to practice law in any US state.

When asked after rocky inaugural press briefing on Tuesday to name the state where she passed the bar exam, Zacharia said: “When I moved to China.”

China’s notoriously difficult National Unified Legal Professional Qualification Examination can be taken only by Chinese citizens.

Asked what credentials she held, the White House passed along a statement from Zacharia, who received a bachelor of arts degree from Pepperdine University in 2007 and received her law degree from Pepperdine Caruso School of Law in 2011, according to the school and her LinkedIn bio.

“I practised international transaction law, with all the appropriate credentials,” it read.

White House communications director Steven Cheung said Zacharia was “uniquely qualified and whip smart to help inform the American people about all the great things President Trump and his administration have been doing, and she will do an incredible job as press secretary”.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Zacharia has been the senior communications adviser at the Trump Media & Technology Group – owner of the Truth Social social media platform – since June. She also spent two months as deputy assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security earlier this year.

From 2011 to 2013, it says, she served as an associate on the International Practice Team at the Zhong Lun Law Firm in Beijing.
More recently, it says, she was general counsel for Fix California, a group started by Trump administration official Richard Grenell.

Neither the firm nor the groups responded to questions about Zacharia’s tenure and background.

She is not listed as a member of the state bar in California, where she lives, according to a public database.

Rick Coca, a spokesperson for the State Bar of California, a regulatory agency that oversees state licensing, said it had “no record of Kate Sharon Zacharia or Kate Sharon Black” or any version of her married or maiden names “having been licensed to practice law in California”.

Popular Information said the same was the case in all 50 US states it had queried.

Watchdog group Campaign for Accountability filed a complaint with the State Bar of California asking it to investigate whether Zacharia misrepresented herself as a lawyer in violation of California law.

-AAP