The Russian lawyer who attended at a controversial meeting with Trump campaign members has reportedly called herself “an informant” who is in communication with Russia's chief prosecutor.

Attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya was one of eight people present at the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting, which was organised after an intermediary promised to give Donald Trump Jr incriminating information about his father’s election rival, Hillary Clinton.

Ms Veselnitskaya has previously claimed that she was acting independently during the meeting with Trump campaign officials. But her recent comments suggest she may have been more involved with the Russian government than she let on.

“I am a lawyer, and I am an informant,” she told NBC News in an interview set to air Friday night, according to the New York Times.

She added: “Since 2013, I have been actively communicating with the office of the Russian prosecutor general.”

The comments square with earlier New York Times reporting, which suggested Ms Veselnitskaya had spoken with Russia’s prosecutor general about the memos she intended to deliver to the Trump team.

The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Mueller’s team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. 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AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. 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Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images

The Times also reviewed emails which appear to show Ms Veselnitskaya working closely with the prosecutor general, Yuri Chaika, on a 2014 case involving the US Department of Justice.

According to emails obtained by former Russian tycoon Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, and seen by the Times, Ms Veselnitskaya helped Mr Chaika respond to the US’s request for help in a civil fraud case. The Russian government provided little help in the case, according to an American judge, and the Justice Department eventually agreed to settle.

The emails, and Ms Veselnitskaya’s recent comments, contrast with her statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee last year, in which she claimed to operate "independently of any governmental bodies”.

“I have no relationship with Mr Chaika, his representatives and his institutions other than those related to my professional functions as a lawyer,” she told the committee in November.

Russian lawyer says Trump Jr 'badly' wanted dirt on Clintons

The Trump Tower meeting drew scrutiny last year, after the Times reported that Ms Veselnitskaya had attended the meeting with Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, as well as Mr Trump Jr and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Mr Trump Jr claimed the meeting – which friend and former business partner Rob Goldstone helped arrange – was “nothing” and "a wasted 20 minutes”.

He later released emails revealing that Mr Goldstone had offered him “official documents and information" that would incriminate Ms Clinton, from someone he referred to as the “Crown prosecutor of Russia”.

Russia does not have a crown prosecutor. The closest role is Mr Chaika’s – the prosecutor general.