May 30—Residents and officials across the Merrimack Valley reacted to the jury’s guilty decision in the hush money trial of former President Donald Trump Thursday night with a gamut of emotions from surprise to relief, disappointment to worry.

“Truly at a loss for words,” local Andover historian Tom Adams said. “This is a historic day.”

Trump was found guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to a porn star to help him win the presidential election.

Democratic party officials across the valley saw the verdict as justice at work.

“The verdict today in Manhattan, shows that the justice system works,” said Donna Loranger, the Democratic Town Committee Chair in Salem, New Hampshire. “He was tried by a jury of his peers and they made the decision to convict 34 — 0 after hearing all the evidence.”

“It’s about the facts in the case, not the politics,” Loranger added. “I will never forget the speaker of the House and other Republicans trashing the judicial system in order to score points. Never.”

Local Republican politicians lamented the decision.

Salem, New Hampshire Republican Town Committee Chair Steven Goddu agreed with Ted Cruz’s analysis of the trial as a sham as well as fraudulent and political persecution.

“This is troubling,” Goddu said. “Republicans may do the same in the future if this ruling is allowed to stand and our country’s judicial system will be forever questioned for political bias. Hopefully the checks and balances of the judicial system will prevail and fairness will prevail.”

National Democratic politicians who represent the Valley in Congress agreed with their peers.

“This is an extraordinarily serious moment for American politics,” said U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Salem. “Donald Trump, one of only 44 others who have held the highest office in the land, has spent his entire career walking right up to, and over, the line of legality. It was only a matter of time before his actions led him to face our justice system. To be clear: whether or not you like this verdict, this is how our system is supposed to work. This is how a healthy democracy is supposed to work. No one is above the law, not even a former president.”

Moulton added that the country is now in “uncharted waters” with a “convicted criminal” a frontrunner for the presidency.

“For Democrats, the stakes could not be higher. We have so much work to do to build trust across all Americans,” said Moulton.

“No one is above the law,” U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Westford, said on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Jonathan Guzman, vice chair of the Lawrence School Committee, made a similar point.

“Donald Trump’s verdict demonstrated that no one can escape justice and that all of the resentment and attacks on individuals involved were ineffective,” Guzman said. “A message that no one in this country, whether Democrat or Republican, is above the law, and that all of their disastrous choices will soon catch up with them.”

Local legal experts also waded in with thoughts on the trial and the upcoming sentencing.

Former Haverhill Mayor James Fiorentini, speaking from the perspective of a former assistant district attorney as well as a defense lawyer, said that in his law career he found that juries are notoriously difficult to predict, so nothing would have surprised him.

“I thought that the president’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, did an absolutely outstanding job particularly in the cross examination of Michael Cohen,” he said. “I thought that Cohen crashed and burned on cross examination. Nothing would have surprised me and I would not have been surprised with a not guilty because of the cross examination of Cohen. The prosecution obviously anticipated that Cohen would crash and burn and they did an excellent job of corroborating his testimony which was the only thing they could do. As for sentencing, there is almost no chance that former President Trump will be sentenced to jail, nor should he be. He’ll be given a fine and he will appeal.”

Fiorentini added that the verdict might serve to galvanize Trump’s base.

“I’ve seen the polls that 15% to 20% of his supporters will reconsider but I don’t believe them,” he said. “People have made up their minds on Donald Trump. They are going to vote based on the economy.”

“He got a fairer trial than a lot of other people get,” said James Krasnoo, trial lawyer of 60 years with the Lawrence Bar Association. “History most unfortunately has been made. They [the jurors] stayed out long enough to show that some people in there were exploring the options.”

Ralph Basiliere, Haverhill City Councilor for Ward 1, said he was convinced Trump would be found guilty on some counts, but not all counts.

“I was very surprised at the verdict,” he said. “I felt the prosecution made a very compelling case and that the evidence was very strong. I will say, notwithstanding, the decision as to whether Trump will be president again will happen at the ballot box. The bottom line is this was never about hush money, but instead about hush money in order to win an election. They wanted to keep Stormy Daniels quiet during the 2016 election. If history is any indicator, I would think that Trump will appeal the verdict.”

Pastor Dana Allen Walsh of South Church in Andover turned to her faith in light of the news.

“I reflect on the call from prophet Micah to ‘seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly,'” said Walsh. “In that spirit, I hope we can be a country where unity is valued over uniformity, where we seek justice for all people, and hold truth and honesty as foundational to the work of democracy.”

Caitlin Dee, Teddy Tauscher, Mike LaBella and Angelina Berube contributed to this report.