"The opinion, I think, was wrong, and I think the government should appeal it. It's deeply flawed in a number of ways," Barr said on Fox on Tuesday.

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It was the second time in just a few days that the former attorney general had taken to the network favored by conservatives to hammer Trump on the controversy. And his statements are adding to the swirl of outside interest in the next critical stages of this high-stakes legal process -- the search for a third-party official to serve as a "special master" and the Justice Department's decision on whether to appeal Cannon's ruling, which would come at the risk of further delays for the probe.

Barr's outspokenness will have three main consequences. First, such comments by a longtime political and legal conservative will add credibility to growing questions not just about Cannon's legal reasoning but also whether Monday's ruling, which delivered several big wins to Trump, was motivated by loyalty to the president who appointed her.