Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer who met with Donald Trump Jr. Don John Trump'Tiger King' star Joe Exotic requests pardon from Trump: 'Be my hero please' Zaid Jilani discusses Trump's move to cancel racial sensitivity training at federal agencies Trump International Hotel in Vancouver closes permanently MORE and others at Trump Tower during the 2016 presidential race, appears to have greater ties to the Russian government than she previously admitted.

The New York Times reports that Veselnitskaya in at least one instance worked for Russia’s chief legal office against the U.S. Justice Department in a fraud case targeting a top Russian firm with government connections.

And in an interview set to be broadcast Friday on "NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt” and on MSNBC's "On Assignment with Richard Engel," Veselnitskaya calls herself an "informant" for the Russian government, an admission that goes further than her previous claims of just being a private attorney.