The Senate hearing scene was a marvel of attention to detail and period accuracy--including the inaccuracies in the family chart:
Not only is the Senate chamber in the film a "7/8 reduction of the real thing" (per Harlan Lebo), the family chart is a perfect repo of the charts used at the famous Valachi hearings in 1963 You can see the original chartrs here (scroll to the bottom):
http://www.gangrule.com/gallery/maps.htmlThe FBI had steadfastly ignored the Mafia until Valachi came forward. To try to look as if they knew what they were doing, the FBI made up the charts primarily from Valachi's recollections. But Valachi wasn't very accurate--he'd been in prison for years and was a low-ranking soldier--so the charts weren't accurate, either.
The same is true for the Corleone family chart shown in the scene. For example, Fredo is listed as "Underboss," on a line above Neri and Rocco, when we all know Michael didn't trust him with anything more than running a brothel or a Mickey Mouse nightclub. I think FFC was deliberately trying to show a parallel with the real thing: the FBI was guessing, and not very accurately.
Another point: the
real purpose of the Senate hearing, as manipulated by Roth and his man Questadt, was to destroy Michael's legitimate facade. To reinforce that Michael was a Mafia boss, the FBI showed the chart with Hagen, Neri and Rocco--people he was publicly associated with--having extensive FBI files and/or police records. Guilt by association. I think our lawyer paisani on this board will agree that, in real life, a chart showing Michael's lawyer, who was representing him at the hearing, as a high ranking officer of the family, would have brought a howl of protest from Hagen, who had no criminal record and was a member of the bar.
