For all that is said about Dallas McInerney – and a lot is said from both haters and boosters – nobody has ever called him an idiot. In his dual roles as Catholic Schools NSW chief executive and Liberal Party powerbroker, McInerney has proved a formidable, ruthless and highly intelligent tactician.

What the state’s corruption watchdog is wondering, though, is whether he has been too clever by half. At its simplest, the Independent Commission Against Corruption believes he has abused his position at Catholic Schools NSW and potentially broken donation laws by directing hundreds of thousands of dollars towards a conservative Christian branch-stacking operation. The schools body was also a cushy landing pad for political mates who needed jobs.

By mixing business with political pleasure he has found himself in the spotlight, rather than the shadows where he prefers to operate. McInerney’s appearance before the ICAC is a body blow for a man who has had more influence over the education of millions of Catholic school students than any other person for a decade.

McInerney will return to the witness box on Wednesday for a fresh set of questions. His two days of evidence last week featured plenty of embarrassing moments and curiously vague answers. But the ICAC is yet to produce a smoking gun that definitively proves he orchestrated or knew of the scheme. Based on what we know, prosecutors may be far from convinced that this is a slam-dunk case of electoral fraud.