White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, who did not favor Katie Zacharia for press secretary, helped line up the Fox News interview that ultimately led to Zacharia's being fired from the job, according to two people familiar with internal West Wing dynamics who spoke with Politico.
One source described the appearance as a "sanctioned hit" on Zacharia. The second person said, "[White House spokesperson] Danielle [Alvarez] and Susie fed her to Hannity," and noted that Wiles and Hannity are friendly and speak often. One source said Zacharia had not been Wiles' preferred choice for press secretary.
The account comes as Wiles faces questions about her own standing with the president. As Republicans' midterm prospects worsen, Trump has asked allies about Wiles and floated possible replacements, but the White House denies those reports.
Hannity opened the interview by addressing Zacharia's first press briefing, which ran 14 minutes and included three questions. "It's been widely panned. I'm sure you're aware," Hannity said.
Zacharia responded by laying out a compressed timeline. She said she received the offer by phone the previous Wednesday, flew to Washington for a Friday meeting, went home to California on Saturday, and returned Sunday. She said she started on Monday, the Columbus Day federal holiday, and received briefing materials on the morning of her Tuesday briefing.
"So what I feel is I really stepped up to the plate to do the press conference, shaken, with very little prep time," she said.
Hannity asked whether she believed staff should have prepared her better. Zacharia said she could have limited the session to a brief introduction. "Instead of taking questions, probably should have stepped aside," she said.
Hannity then asked whether she had failed the bar exam. "Yes, Sean," Zacharia said. She told Hannity she had preregistered for the exam before moving to China after graduating from Pepperdine, and that she later worked in the international practice of a Chinese law firm. Asked whether she ever retook the exam, she said, "No, I did not."
Hannity cited a report identifying 15 social media posts in which Zacharia described herself as an attorney. "I think they were retweets," Zacharia said. "I corrected the record and said it's not endorsing the title."
"And why not say, 'I took the bar and didn't pass it'?" Hannity asked. Zacharia said she had four children in six years after returning to the United States and never intended to practice law. She said she held a valid Juris Doctor and offered general legal commentary in media appearances without giving legal advice.
Zacharia's performance in the interview drew widespread criticism on social media, and Trump told reporters the next day that he asked Zacharia to consider whether she wanted to stay in the role. "She was on Sean Hannity last night. And Sean was a little bit tough. I saw she was on Fox and Friends this morning. They were a little tough," Trump said.
Trump said he told Zacharia, "You don't have to do this if you don't want to."
But the White House rejects the claim that Wiles orchestrated Zacharia's downfall. "Susie and Sean do talk, but Susie did not need to feed her to Sean or anybody else. It's not her style," a senior White House official said.
The same official pointed to Zacharia's own media appearances, including a Friday morning interview on Fox & Friends. "And Hannity wasn't the nail in her coffin; her hit [on Fox & Friends] this morning was, as well as her weird answer on being a lawyer," the official said.
White House communications director Steven Cheung dismissed the reports of Wiles' involvement. "All of this breathless speculation is just that - speculation. And it's fiction that's not even creative," Cheung said. He added that Zacharia "will continue to support the President as she transitions to a new role." Zacharia declined to comment.
Fox News Media insists that Hannity alone decides whom he interviews and what he asks, and that "Wiles and Alvarez had nothing to do with the booking." A Fox News insider also rejected the idea of a planned hit. "If you can't answer simple questions about your credentials, that speaks volumes," the insider said.
The credentials questions began three days before the Hannity interview, when a reporter shouted a question at a White House departure. "You said she's an attorney. Where did she pass the bar exam?" the reporter asked. Zacharia answered "when I moved to China." She later admitted she failed the California bar exam in 2011 and never took it again.
"Not only is Fox News home turf for us, but Katie couldn't manage to answer a basic question about herself that had been brewing in the news for three days," a pro-Trump operative told Politico.
The press secretary job marked Zacharia's second short tenure in the administration. Earlier this year, she spent less than two months at the Department of Homeland Security.
