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Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard law professor who helped create the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has enlisted the help of two top Massachusetts Democratic operatives, a sign that she is closer than ever to entering the race to challenge popular Republican Sen. Scott Brown. But Republicans quickly fired back at the news, pointing to the operatives' lobbying connections.

Two aides instrumental in Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick’s campaign and administration are assisting Warren's exploratory effort: Doug Rubin, a prominent strategist and Patrick’s former campaign manager, and Kyle Sullivan, the governor’s former communications director and a former John Kerry staffer. He also worked on Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign. Rubin founded the consulting firm Northwind Strategies and is a registered lobbyist. Sullivan is not a lobbyist but is employed by the firm as a consultant.

“It’s ironic that a so-called consumer champion like Professor Warren is already taking her marching orders from two well-connected Beacon Hill lobbyists,” Jennifer Nassour, chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party, said in a statement Friday. “All her rhetoric about standing up for consumers and fighting the special interests rings hollow when the first two people she turns to for advice are insiders paid to lobby on behalf of the gambling industry.”

Rubin maintained that only a "limited" part of his lobbying has to do with public policy advocacy, according to a statement provided to RCP and other news outlets.

"I have spent over twenty years working on state and federal campaigns in Massachusetts. I have spent the last six months consulting with businesses, non-profits and other entities on their communications and marketing needs," he said in the statement. "My work on behalf of Elizabeth Warren is consistent with my work over the past twenty years, and will be separate from my work with Northwind Strategies. It's unfortunate that my 20 years of working to elect progressive candidates is glossed over so deceptively by the Republican Party. I am proud of my record of support for progressive issues and candidates and look forward to continuing that work in the future."

The National Republican Senatorial Committee issued a memo Friday pointing out a story published by the Boston Globe that details the lobbying connections; the memo also cited a February article from the State House News Service detailing Rubin's lobbying work for a gambling firm.