Katie Zacharia is out, White House official confirms

White House press secretary Katie Zacharia is leaving the job after just five days, SFGATE confirmed Friday.

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Zacharia, a Pepperdine University law school alum, was shrouded in controversy during her brief tenure over her legal experience and whether she had misrepresented herself as a lawyer.

President Donald Trump told reporters on the White House lawn Friday that he would consider making Zacharia’s gig short-lived, because he wants her to be “happy.” Trump said he would consider making the decision once he returned from a rally in Georgia. However, a White House official confirmed shortly after in an email sent to SFGATE that Zacharia is leaving the job. “I just want her to be happy,” Trump told reporters, referring to the widespread media coverage on her legal background. He said he asked her, “Is this for you Katie? Honestly you don’t need this, you don’t need to be treated that bad.”

Zacharia had a tumultuous start after her first and only press briefing Tuesday, where she was criticized for her slightly awkward performance. The briefing was followed by a flurry of media reports questioning whether she misrepresented herself as a lawyer. Two watchdogs also filed complaints alleging she broke the law. 

On Wednesday, SFGATE reached out to an email address associated with Zacharia at Fix California, a nonprofit where she had worked as general counsel, asking if she worked for the organization as an attorney. An email address consisting of her first and last name responded, “I never provided legal services,” with the message signed, “Katie.”

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Zacharia addressed the ongoing questions in an interview with a conservative commentator Thursday and admitted that she had failed the California bar exam. She blamed the results on being “distracted and overwhelmed” while in a long-distance relationship with her partner, now-husband, who was living in China.

Despite the truth coming out, however, it appears her time as press secretary will be short-lived after all. The president said that the media had treated her unfairly and suggested she would be better off out of the spotlight.

“She’s been treated, I would say, pretty nastily,” Trump told reporters. “… I said, ‘Katie, you know you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.’ She said, ‘This is a lot tougher.’ I said, ‘Welcome to the world of Trump.’” He said he would “let her make that decision” but told her she “should reconsider.”

Zacharia did not immediately respond to a request for comment from SFGATE.