On the final day before her departure, Katie Zacharia fielded a steady stream of questions about her professional history — her tenure as White House press secretary having lasted only five days. Questions about Zacharia's background and credentials drew sustained attention across the span of her time in the role.

Throughout much of her professional life, she had represented herself as a licensed attorney in California — a status that records show she had not earned, a fact she later disclosed. Covered in the same reporting from a broadcast news outlet was her time working as an affiliate marketer tied to Beachbody, a fitness company operating under a multi-level marketing structure.

Reporting by one news outlet brought to light additional details about her ties to an AI-driven rare earths extraction venture known as NRED Intelligent Mining, a company that lists Kristi Noem — who previously led the Department of Homeland Security — among its strategic advisors.

A public announcement from NRED — operating at that point under the name NovaRed Mining, a Vancouver-based copper-and-gold exploration company — disclosed on June 24 that Zacharia, roughly two months removed from a position as a DHS spokesperson, would be taking a seat on the advisory board alongside Noem. No record of her having actually worked at NovaRed appears to exist, despite the announcement describing a role in which she would offer the board strategic direction on exploration projects and the company's artificial intelligence efforts.

When asked on a Friday whether her board position remained active, Zacharia dismissed the claim as false and directed the reporter to Sam Amsterdam — described in his own materials as a "strategic marketing and media engagement professional" with a client roster that has included the government of Kazakhstan along with political parties operating in Georgia, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe.

Valentin Saitarli, who held the chief technology officer role at NRED and is moving into the chief executive position, acknowledged that a role for Zacharia had been under discussion, though he noted it never came to fruition — drawing a comparison to joining a gym without ever setting foot inside. Saitarli separately described NRED's direction as centred on robotics and artificial intelligence, while the press release stating that Zacharia would be joining the company remained visible on NRED's website through Friday, even though Amsterdam had understood the announcement to have been withdrawn.

A cached snapshot of the organisation's website placed Zacharia among its management personnel dating back to at least July. Saitarli, responding to the question, noted that the website was in the process of being updated.

Eight days after Noem's appointment became public, Zacharia's own role at NovaRed was formally disclosed. In the intervening period, Zacharia had spent roughly a month in a public affairs post beneath Noem at DHS as deputy assistant press secretary, and reporting at the time placed her in close proximity to Corey Lewandowski, who held an informal but influential position as the department's de facto chief of staff. Zacharia stated on record that no such connection to the news channel in question existed.

Her placement on the advisory board of a Canadian mining company drew objections from within Canada, where some pointed to prior comments in which she had referred to the country as the "51st state." One broadcaster at the time characterised NovaRed as a copper and gold exploration outfit generating no revenue, while a separate account noted the company held just $65,689 in cash as of January — a figure NovaRed itself indicated would fall short of projected expenses over the next twelve months, though conditions had begun to change by spring.

Rather than drawing its advisory board from geologists and technical consultants — the professionals commonly found guiding junior mining ventures — NovaRed made appointments from people connected to the defence industry, political circles associated with MAGA, and various international organisations.

Earlier this month, NRED announced it would step away from the Wilmac Copper-Gold Project — which had served as the company's main asset — to direct its full attention toward MetalCore, a mineral exploration platform the company characterises as AI-assisted. In a broadcaster interview, Saitarli outlined an ambition to build what he described as a new generation of robotics and mining, and raised the question of whether the industry should move on from methods he regarded as outdated.

Phil Ehr, a retired Navy commander who joined NovaRed earlier this year and is seeking a Florida congressional seat as a Democrat, acknowledged that his background offers no grounding in mining, while the company's leadership outlined ambitions to deploy robotics and artificial intelligence across the global mining industry and, in time, beyond Earth. Ehr told a broadcast outlet that while commodities markets lay outside his area of familiarity, his view was that copper supplies would need to expand.

Ehr later recounted that the additions of Zacharia, Kristi Noem, and a further Department of Homeland Security representative to the advisory board came without any prior notice to him — the appointments materialised without consultation. Noem, who had not responded to requests for comment by deadline, had recently overseen an ICE operation in Minneapolis, and Ehr said he wanted no association with her presence at the event, asking the company directly why she had been invited.

Ehr indicated that collaboration with Noem felt unworkable, pointing to disputes surrounding her public profile as the reason, and described the divide as one rooted in opposing views about conduct within the federal government.

The composition of NovaRed's workforce struck Ehr as puzzling, given that a notable portion of its new hires appeared to have little background in the mining sector. Among those he anticipated finding on the roster were geologists and technical consultants. Among those brought on board were Gregory Fedun, whose background included advisory work for the Al Mualla Royal Family of the United Arab Emirates across a portfolio of international projects, alongside Lee Caplin, a media executive whose credits encompass co-producing HBO's True Detective series. Ehr's departure from the advisory board came shortly after Noem took her seat on it.

Zacharia had other matters to address at the same time she was working to explain her connection to NRED. That Thursday evening, while Zacharia was still serving as White House press secretary, she contacted a reporter to recommend they reach out to fitness influencer Jenelle Summers for what she described as "clarity" regarding Beachbody, the multi-level marketing company she had previously been associated with.

Summers said she retained little memory of Zacharia — someone she described as an online acquaintance — apart from recalling her as consistently pleasant and enthusiastic about fitness, the products, and the associated programmes. Summers noted that Zacharia had not been particularly active in the business, and pushed back on Zacharia's description of the company as a pyramid scheme, characterising that view as outdated and preferring the term "network marketing business model." When asked about Zacharia's rise to prominence, Summers said only that Zacharia had always treated her well.

Zacharia did not respond to outlets seeking comment on her dismissal. Amsterdam, when queried by a reporter about the dismissal, indicated he had no prior knowledge of it.