The citizenship cyclone raging through Canberra has developed a second front blowing straight towards Malcolm Turnbull.

As recriminations fly about which ministers knew about the dual citizenship of Senate president Stephen Parry and why the PM did not, the government's political machinery has been exposed as amateurish and, worse, deliberately deceptive.

The citizenship cyclone raging through Canberra is headed right for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Credit:Andrew Meares

Ministers ducked for cover on Friday with a slew confirming to reporters they had not known about Parry's situation, leaving an ever-shrinking list of those who might have.

Remember the driving question at the heart of the Watergate investigation? "What did the president know and when did he know it?"