Is Elizabeth Warren the 'mother' of Occupy protests?

BOSTON, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- Conservatives are trying to paint Harvard Law Professor Elizabeth Warren as the "radical" behind the Occupy Wall Street protests that spread nationwide.

Warren headed congressional oversight of the federal government's Troubled Asset Relief Program that bailed out Wall Street and major banks, and she championed creation of a new federal consumer protection bureau.

She has portrayed herself as a defender of the American middle class and recently in comments to a reporter from the online Daily Beast said she had laid the intellectual foundation for the anti-greed Occupy movement.

Warren, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts, has said it makes sense to raise taxes on the wealthy and said at a campaign event "there is nobody in this country who got rich on his own." So it's not surprising Republicans have pounced on her remarks.

The Massachusetts Republican Party released a video Thursday calling Warren the "Matriarch of Mayhem" showing protesters and ending with the line -- "Elizabeth Warren. Too Divisive. Too Radical."

Warren has not backed away from her remarks and said she does not endorse breaking the law.

"Elizabeth was making the point that she has been protesting Wall Street's practices and policies for years -- and working to change them," Warren campaign spokesman Kyle Sullivan told the Los Angeles Times.

"Wall Street's tricks brought our economy to the edge of collapse and there hasn't been any real accountability. She understands why people are so angry and why they're taking their fight to the street. She has said repeatedly everyone has to abide the law."

The Times said Warren raised $3.15 million in the third quarter, almost twice the amount raised by incumbent Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass.