Vice President Pence tries to shore up Georgia GOP candidate

MARIETTA, Ga. – Vice President Mike Pence is trying to shore up a Georgia congressional candidate in the final days of a surprisingly competitive special election in Atlanta’s usually Republican suburbs.

Pence will appear with Karen Handel at a fundraiser Friday after he speaks at Dobbins Air Reserve Base.

Handel faces Democrat Jon Ossoff on June 20 for the seat opened when Tom Price resigned to join President Donald Trump’s administration.

The vice president’s visit comes a day after former FBI chief James Comey testified on Capitol Hill that he believes Trump fired him to interfere with his investigation of Russia’s ties to the Trump campaign.

Comey also accused the White House of telling “lies, plain and simple” about the reasons for his firing.

Pence hasn’t commented publicly since Comey’s testimony.