FBI investigators wiretapped former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort in the months before and after the election and prosecutors have told him they plan to indict him, according to two sensational reports.

CNN claims that Manafort was the subject of electronic surveillance under a secret court order in 2016 and the start of 2017 as part of an investigation into his ties to Russia.

Separately, two prosecutors working for Special Counsel Robert Mueller told Manafort that they plan to indict him after a raid on his home in July, according to the New York Times.

It marks another two dramatic developments in Robert Mueller's probe into alleged Russian meddling in the election, and also comes after President Trump tweeted in March about alleged wiretapping of his phones.

Government investigators wiretapped former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort in the months before and after the election

The FBI picked the key and raided Paul Manafort's Virginia home in July. After the raid, they reportedly told him he would be indicted

According to the CNN report, the FBI began investigating the Republican operative in 2014 because of his work with Party of the Regions, a centrist pro-Russia political party of Ukraine.

The wiretapping went into 2016 including a run up to the presidential election, according to the explosive report. The investigators initially stopped sometime last year because of lack of evidence.

It is not clear if Trump's was picked up on any of the calls handed over. They continued to talk after he took office in January.

But the FBI restarted the surveillance early this year after obtaining a FISA warrant, meaning the agency may have suggested Manafort was acting as an agency for a foreign power.

MANAFORT AND TRUMP CAMPAIGN: WHAT WE KNOW March 29, 2016: Republican candidate Donald Trump announces ex lobbyist Paul Manafort as his campaign convention manager June 9, 2016: Manafort, Donald Trump Jr and Jared Kushner have a meeting in Trump Tower with a Russian lawyer who claimed she had information about Hillary Clinton that could help the campaign June 20, 2016: Manafort becomes Trump's campaign manager July 31, 2016: The New York Times reports on Manafort's business deals with Party of the Regions, a centrist pro-Russia political party of Ukraine August 19, 2016: Trump removes Manafort as his campaign manager June 15, 2017: The Washington Post reports Robert Mueller is investigating the finances of Trump associates July 26, 2017: The FBI picks the lock and raids Manafort's Virginia home and tells him he will be indicted, according to Monday's New York Times report Source: Factcheck.org Advertisement

It's unclear when the surveillance was restarted, but Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel to investigate alleged Russian meddling in May after Trump fired former FBI director James Comey.

The decision to restart the surveillance under a new FISA warrant came before Manafort's home was dramatically raided by the FBI in July.

Manafort was still in bed when FBI agents, who'd been granted a 'no-knock warrant' picked the front-door lock of his Virginia home, according to the New York Times.

Agents not only seized tax documents, banking records and copied computer files, but they also photographed Manafort's collection of expensive designer suits.

The warrant was allegedly to investigate the ties between Trump campaign members and Russian operatives.

FBI agents at the raid reportedly warned Manafort that his prosecutors were planning to indict him.

Manafort stepped down from the campaign in August of 2016 following reports that he accepted payments from when he worked in Ukraine for the Party of the Regions.

Special counsel Robert Mueller has reportedly been informed with details of Manafort's communications.

Manafort was also in the 2016 meeting with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner and Russian lawyer who said he had information about Hillary Clinton that could help Trump's campaign.

He is under investigation for allegedly violating requirements to disclose foreign lobbying, violating tax laws and violating money-laundering prohibitions.

Earlier this year, president Trump accused the Obama administration of wiretapping Trump Tower.

President Trump accused the Obama administration of wiretapping his phones at Trump Tower in March

President Trump tweeted that he believed Obama wire tapped Trump tower before the 2016 election

It is not clear if the conversations intercepted by the FBI from Manafort include conversations with President Trump

MUELLER'S INVESTIGATION HIGHLIGHTS May 2017: Mueller is appointed on May 17 by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein June 2017: The Washington Post reports Mueller is the special counsel heading the Russia probe The Post reveals Mueller is looking into 'the finances and business dealings' of Jared Kushner and other Trump associates Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn turns over 600 pages of documents to the Senate intelligence committee Comey testifies under oath that he felt like the president asked him to 'lift the cloud' and publicly say he was not being investigated July 2017: Jared Kushner meets with Senate intelligence committee investigators on July 24 The FBI raids Paul Manafort's home on July 26 August 2017: Mueller investigated President Trump's drafting of Donald Trump Jr's response about meeting with a Russian lawyer to get opposition information about Hillary Clinton The former chief counsel for the Trump Organization reveals the company looked into building a Trump Tower Moscow during the campaign September 2017: Donald Trump meets with Senate judiciary committee investigators in five-hour-long closed session on September 7 Mueller examines Trump's first draft of his letter about why he wanted to fire ex FBI director James Comey Mueller calls in IRS' Criminal Investigations Unit Source: Factcheck.org Advertisement

He tweeted in March: 'Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my 'wires tapped' in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!'

The same day, the president tweeted: 'How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!'