Hannity presses Katie Zacharia over never passing the bar

USA TODAY posted a YouTube video titled "Sean Hannity grills Katie Zacharia over her law credentials amid scrutiny." The channel's description says Sean Hannity presses Katie Zacharia, who admits she did not pass the bar exam and never took it again.

She said she never retook it. The interview itself aired Thursday night, Oct. 15, 2026, on Fox News' "Hannity."

Axios, in a piece by Rebecca Falconer published Oct. 15, reported that Zacharia told Hannity she took the bar but did not pass. "I knew I would be living in China and the results of the bar were inconsequential," she said, according to Axios. "I sat for it because I didn't want to have a withdrawal status." Hannity asked whether she sat for the exam a second or third time. "No, I did not," she answered, Axios reported.

The Independent's Rhian Lubin, writing Friday, carried more of the exchange. Hannity cited an analysis by Popular Information's Judd Legum that found Zacharia referred to as a "lawyer" in 18 appearances on Fox News since March 2025. "You called it a 'conspiracy theory' as it related to the issue of being a lawyer," Hannity said, per the Independent. "Now, you did go to Pepperdine. Pepperdine is a good school — no doubt about it. You took the bar exam, but you didn't pass the bar exam. Correct?" Zacharia earned a law degree from Pepperdine University in 2011, according to the school. The Guardian, in a video item sourced to Fox News channel's Hannity via Reuters and published Friday, noted that nearly all licensed U.S. lawyers first obtain a law degree, but graduates cannot legally practice in the United States without admission to a state bar. In China, practicing lawyers must be Chinese nationals; foreign staff can advise and consult but not practice law, the Guardian reported.

Hannity kept going. "OK, but I wanna ask you specifically — I know that part of the story, and you did do all of that — but did you ever take the bar exam a second time or a third time?" he asked, the Independent reported. "I did not, Sean," Zacharia said. He asked why she did not simply say she went to Pepperdine Law School and then took a different career path instead of distinguishing "lawyer" from "attorney," according to the Independent. On the "Real America's Voice" podcast Thursday, Axios reported, she recounted advice she said she had received: "You can call yourself a lawyer, you have a JD, and to buffer that, you have international legal experience in transactional law."