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Pro-Trump group targets Ossoff in Ga. special election

by Ben Kamisar - 06/06/17 10:52 AM ET

An outside group affiliated with President Trump is going after Democrat Jon Ossoff ahead of the Georgia House special election, as the GOP seeks to avoid losing a longtime red district.

The new campaign ad released Tuesday is the first time that America First Policies — the nonprofit started by former Trump campaign advisers Nick Ayers, Marty Obst and Brad Parscale — has gotten involved in the high-stakes special election, which is already the most expensive congressional race in history.

The ad does not mention Trump, who has gone to bat for Republican Karen Handel. It instead connects recent terror attacks — complete with footage of terrorists and their victims — with accusations that Ossoff exaggerated his national security chops.

“When it comes to our security, we expect our leaders to tell the truth. But liberal Democrat Jon Ossoff was caught misleading us on his experience — puffing up his qualifications and embellishing his record to get votes,” the narrator says.

{mosads}”If we can’t trust Jon Ossoff to tell the truth about his own resume, we can’t trust him to protect us in Congress.”

The charge has been central to most GOP attacks on Ossoff. During a few months of his five-year stint working for a Georgia Democrat in Congress, Ossoff obtained top-secret security clearance. Republicans have accused him of implying that he held that clearance for longer, a charge Ossoff has chalked up to political attacks.

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America First Policies told The Washington Examiner last week that it planned to spend $1.6 million on television to bolster Handel ahead of the June 20 runoff.

Ossoff and Handel are locked in a tight battle for the open House seat vacated by Health and Human Service Secretary Tom Price.

Democrats have framed the race as a referendum on Trump’s first few months in office.