Two long-running inquiries into allegations of misdeeds by public officials have cast shadows over the upper echelons of power in NSW. One has been conducted in private, the other in public.

In both, those being investigated have complained of witch hunts.

ICAC inspector David Levine has called for hearings to be private. Credit:Peter Rae

The silence of the NSW Ombudsman's investigation into police bugging of fellow police officers, Operation Prospect, has induced paranoia among some of those secretly questioned, and claims it has harmed mental health.

It has fuelled whispering campaigns, hard to combat when allegations aren't in the open, that have damaged careers.