Dowd gave Trump horrible legal advice.
It's much worse than that.
The account of him and Sukelow talking to Mueller and flunky and telling them On March 5, Dowd and Trump attorney Jay Sekulow met in Mueller’s office with the special counsel and his deputy, James Quarles, where Dowd and Sekulow reenacted Trump’s January practice session.
Dowd then explained to Mueller and Quarles why he was trying to keep the president from testifying: “I’m not going to sit there and let him look like an idiot. And you publish that transcript, because everything leaks in Washington, and the guys overseas are going to say, ‘I told you he was an idiot. I told you he was a goddamn dumbbell. What are we dealing with this idiot for?’ ”
“John, I understand,” Mueller replied, according to Woodward.
Even assuming this is an accurate account (which I doubt) for Dowd to first blab this stuff to a fanatical prosecutor trying to nail Trump, and then leak it to D-Bag Woodward is an absolute betrayal and violation of legal ethics !