White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia told Fox News Thursday night that the results of the California bar exam she failed in 2011 were “inconsequential” as she was preparing to move to China at the time, amid growing scrutiny over her legal credentials and repeated claims of being a lawyer.

In an interview , Fox host Sean Hannity repeatedly asked Zacharia whether she had taken the bar exam a second or third time after failing on her first attempt in 2011, and she responded, “I did not.”

The press secretary told Hannity that she got married the week she graduated from Pepperdine and “had all the intent” to move to China, and she considered the results of the bar exam she had preregistered for earlier “inconsequential.”

Zacharia said she decided to sit for the exam anyway because she didn’t want a “withdraw status” on her record, and after moving to China, she worked in an “international practice at a Chinese law firm.”

Hannity mentioned Zacharia’s claim that she was advised she could call herself a lawyer but not an attorney and then confronted her about social media posts where she identified herself as an attorney.

The press secretary claimed these were “retweets,” and she had “corrected the record” and was not “endorsing the title.”

Why Did Katie Zacharia Call Herself A Lawyer?

Hannity also questioned Zacharia’s distinction between a lawyer and an attorney, asking why she didn’t simply say, “I never practiced law,” or acknowledge that she took the bar exam once and failed. The press secretary said she never retook the bar after returning to the U.S. because she had four children in six years and did not intend to practice law. She added that she “consulted attorneys and other legal professionals” before describing herself as a lawyer during media appearances. Zacharia said her reasoning behind this was her degree from Pepperdine and “substantive legal experience.” She added: “I wasn’t being paid for legal advice. I was giving a general review of the legal circumstances surrounding it.”

Hannity also confronted Zacharia about her “widely panned” first appearance in the White House briefing room on Tuesday. The press secretary said she had accepted the job just days before her first presser and said she “stepped up to the plate” with very little preparation—having received briefing material on Tuesday morning. When the Fox host asked if she thinks the White House staff could have prepped her better, Zacharia responded: “I could have just given a brief intro…Instead of taking questions, I probably should have stepped aside.” She also said that despite her limited preparation, she believed she did her “very best.”

In an interview with Real America’s Voice earlier on Thursday, "A lot of the misinformation, miscommunication…is around the fact that I labeled myself ‘lawyer,’ and I consulted for a very long time many people in the field ‘is it OK and acceptable if I label myself lawyer? Not attorney at law … and provide legal analysis, not legal advice…they said ‘absolutely’ across the board.”

Katie Zacharia May Have Committed A ‘Crime’ By Claiming She’s A Lawyer, Complaint Suggests (Forbes)

Katie Zacharia Says She Was Told She Could Say She’s A ‘Lawyer’ But Not An ‘Attorney’ (Forbes)

Katie Zacharia Acknowledges She’s Not A Licensed Attorney (Forbes)

Katie Zacharia Failed Bar Exam In 2011, Report Says—Amid Legal Credentials Controversy (Forbes)