00:02White House Press Secretary Katie Zachariah acknowledges she never passed the bar exam,
00:07but insists she can still call herself a lawyer. Zachariah graduated from Pepperdine Law School,
00:13but has not passed the exam generally required to practice law. Earlier this week, she faced
00:18questions about her legal credentials and whether she had misrepresented them. Thursday night,
00:23she went on Fox News with Sean Hannity to explain why she calls herself a lawyer,
00:27but not an attorney. She pointed to her law degree and previous work at a Chinese law firm.
00:33Why get into this long, drawn-out definition between the difference between a lawyer and an
00:37attorney? Because I don't think most people see much of a distinction.
00:41When I went to go engage in media and give legal analysis, I consulted attorneys and legal
00:46professionals as to whether or not they agreed that I could be labeled a lawyer, both because I
00:52had a valid jurist doctor from a good law school, a reputable law school, Pepperdine Law School,
00:57and in conjunction with the fact that I did have actual substantive legal experience,
01:02I wasn't providing any legal analysis, Sean, or excuse me, legal advice. I wasn't being paid for
01:08legal advice. I was giving a general review of the legal circumstances surrounding it.
01:14But that distinction isn't one the American Bar Association makes. It uses lawyer and attorney
01:19interchangeably. And while there are exceptions to the traditional bar exam requirement,
01:24states generally require a license to practice law. Zachariah does not appear to hold an active law
01:30license in any state.
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