I think these particular congresscritters think that the suits will publicize their dislike for Trump, something that actually seems plausible. The Huffington Post, the source of the story, is even a little sympathetic:
[quote]Trump is so terrible, these Republicans are essentially arguing, that tying them to him amounts to defamation.
All five Republicans have, at some point, said they don’t support Trump. And all five have a bit of a case: The DCCC ads do use some creativity to tie them to Trump.
***[T]he ads all leave an impression that the candidate they’re targeting supports Trump, even when the candidate himself has said otherwise. Whether that’s misleading enough for legal action is someone else’s call.
The commercials all use different means to make the same point: In Jolly’s case, the ad asks voters to “imagine” Trump as president with Jolly supporting him, providing some roughly manipulated pictures of the two together to help fill in the blanks. ***
The ad targeting Katko uses footage from May of the candidate saying he "absolutely will support” the GOP’s eventual nominee. But Katko’s lawyer says he “has never and does not currently” support Trump. He calls the ad “blatantly false.”
The other cases are similar.[/quote]
I don’t see the usual potential for backfire here: the reporting is likely to emphasize the reps’ desire to distance themselves from Trump, which is the message they want.
