New Trump press secretary says she did not pass bar exam

New White House press secretary Katie Zacharia has said she did not pass the bar exam after facing scrutiny about her legal career before becoming the top spokeswoman for US President Donald Trump.

Ms Zacharia, who joined the White House on Monday, has previously said she practiced law before entering politics and Mr Trump had described her as an attorney.

"You did not pass the bar exam, correct?" she was asked in an interview on Fox News last night.

"Correct," she said in response to the host, Sean Hannity.

"I did not," she said when Mr Hannity asked if she ever took the bar exam a second time.

Ms Zacharia, 41, earned her law degree from Pepperdine University in 2011, according to the university.

Nearly all licensed US lawyers first obtain a law degree, but law school graduates cannot legally practice law in the US without first being admitted to a state bar.

A watchdog group filed a complaint with the State Bar of California, asking it to investigate whether Ms Zacharia had broken the law by repeatedly presenting herself as a lawyer without a licence.

Campaign for Accountability said Ms Zacharia had described herself as a lawyer during television appearances and listed herself as general counsel of a California-based conservative nonprofit.

"Ms Zacharia has represented herself as a lawyer repeatedly to buttress her reputation and credibility," the group's executive director Michelle Kuppersmith said.

"The State Bar should investigate whether Ms Zacharia has misled the public about her credentials," she added.

"I practised international transaction law, with all the appropriate credentials," Ms Zacharia said in a statement to AFP, without clarifying whether she held a US law licence.

Ms Zacharia has not specified where, if anywhere, she was admitted to the bar. Asked by reporters on Tuesday where she had passed the bar exam, she replied: "When I moved to China."

On Tuesday during her first briefing, she took questions from just three reporters before ending the event in under 15 minutes.

Her performance was criticised by some media commentators and political analysts, however Mr Trump told reporters, "I thought she was very good".