Why is everyone pretending this is OK?

Australia's chief ally, the United States, on the direction of Donald Trump, will investigate whether Australia helped kickstart what Trump has called a coup attempt against his administration - the perfectly appropriate FBI and Robert Mueller inquiry into his campaign's links to Russia.

US President Donald Trump has ordered his Attorney-General William Barr to investigation the investigation into the Trump campaign's Russia links. Credit:AP

The Australian government's pushback has been underwhelming. Prime Minister Scott Morrison, asked whether Australia was part of a conspiracy to launch the probe, refused to dismiss the suggestion, saying he wouldn't comment on ongoing investigations - as if this were even a legitimate subject of inquiry.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said if Australia were asked to co-operate with the new investigation, it "would, of course, consider such a request".