Dylan Howard, Geelong journalist at centre of Trump trial, breaks silence

Dylan Howard, the Geelong journalist who found himself in the middle of Donald Trump’s landmark criminal trial in New York, has spoken out.

EXCLUSIVE

The Australian journalist at the centre of Donald Trump’s landmark criminal case has broken his silence, saying “the jury has spoken” by convicting the former president on 34 felony charges.

Speaking through his lawyer, Dylan Howard, a key player in the National Enquirer’s “catch and kill” strategy to bury negative stories about the former president, downplayed the effect of the testimony the journalist gave to a grand jury that indicted Trump last year.

Geelong journalist Dylan Howard pictured with former US President Donald Trump at the White House. Picture: Supplied

Howard’s US lawyer, John B Harris, also said his client was only acting on instructions in the catch and kill scheme, which included a pay-off to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Asked what Howard thought about the convictions, he said: “Mr Howard’s reaction is that the jury in the US has spoken regarding the charges against Mr. Trump.”

While Howard gave evidence to the grand jury, he did not appear during Trump’s criminal trial in New York, where a jury this week found the former president guilty on all 34 hush money charges.

After humble beginnings on the Geelong Advertiser, Dylan Howard led a high-flying life in the US. He has since returned to Australia. Picture: Instagram

“Whether his testimony played a role in Mr Trump’s indictment is a matter of conjecture and, as is self-evident, a jury convicted Mr Trump beyond a reasonable doubt without consideration of Mr. Howard’s testimony,” Mr Harris said.

“Mr Howard was neither the architect of nor a proponent of ‘catch and kill’,” he said.

“He did not act for his own personal benefit, but instead acted at the behest and direction of his former employer. Mr Howard has never been charged with violating any US law.”

It is the first time the prolific media player has said anything publicly about the Trump case since he was outed as a key player in April last year.

Dylan Howard rose to the top of the US media. Picture: Instagram

The 42-year-old soared from humble beginnings as a reporter for the Geelong Advertiser to the pinnacle of media in the USA, where enjoyed a life of luxury, rubbed shoulders with celebrities and became closely involved with Trump’s world.

Posts to his Instagram account have included an image of $100 bills spread out on a gaming table in Las Vegas, snaps of him bathing in an infinity pool overlooking the ocean in Mexico and tales of private jet flights to American millionaires’ playground island Martha’s Vineyard.

Dylan Howard pictured in the Oval Office. Picture: Supplied

He decamped to America after a run-in with the courts and the AFL over reports about the medical records of two footballers while he was at TV network Seven and a bust-up with business partner and fellow footy hack Craig Hutchison.

Between 2013 and 2019 he was editorial boss of American Media Inc., which publishes the National Enquirer – a supermarket tabloid famous for its celebrity exposes.

In return for an agreement not to prosecute it, AMI admitted taking part in the “catch and kill” scheme to kill negative stories about Trump in the run-up to the 2016 election that swept him to power.

Howard’s boss, AMI publisher David Pecker, gave evidence at Trump’s trial.