STORY: Lawyers in Donald Trump's historic criminal trial in New York selected all 12 jurors on Thursday.

The panel will assess Trump's guilt or innocence over the coming weeks in a case stemming from a hush-money payment made to a porn star prior to the 2016 election.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Lawyers for the defense and the prosecution must still select alternate jurors for the trial- the first ever in which a former U.S. president is the defendant.

Judge Juan Merchan said opening statements could take place as early as Monday.

Trump's outsized public presence created unique problems during the jury selection process.

Roughly half of the nearly 200 jurors screened in heavily Democratic Manhattan were dismissed after saying they could not assess the evidence impartially.

Trump's criticism of witnesses, prosecutors, the judge and their relatives in this case prompted Merchan to expand an existing gag order earlier this month.

However, an indignant Trump continued to rail against the trial as he left court for the day on Thursday, calling it "very unfair," and displaying a stack of news reports he said agreed with him.

"The whole world is watching this hoax. You got a DA that's out of control. You have a judge that's highly conflicted. The whole thing is a mess and you have the leading candidate, and leading crooked Joe Biden by a lot, he's the one that should be in trouble. He's a crook. You've got a crooked president."

Experts say Trump would use a not guilty verdict in the case as vindication.

A conviction would not bar him from taking office, but Political science professor at Columbia University Robert Y. Shapiro says it could hurt his chances in November.

"And if he's found guilty, obviously, you know, there will be appeals going on. So it will be it won't be over yet, but in terms of being found guilty, this is, this is being found guilty not by any government official, but this is by a citizen jury. And that that may have, you know, further resonance, resonance and hurt his candidate, you know, hurt his candidacy. You know, in a way that we haven't seen."

Trump is also facing three other criminal cases as he prepares for a rematch with U.S. President Joe Biden in November's presidential election.

But the New York case is the only one certain to go to trial this year.

Trump has pleaded not guilty in all four cases.