I think (in the movie) Brasco said that even if it was a Federal boat, that it did not appear that the F.B.I got anything on them as consequence of their usage of the boat.

Notice though that after they've snuck up to Bruno's boat and pulled the plug Left is behind Donnie pointing his gun at him. To me that's saying Lefty has doubts about Donnie and that:

A - Left is going to shoot Donnie if he doesn't clip Bruno cause he knows a fed can't be a part of murder and this will prove it if Donnie doesn't do it.

B- He knows Donnie is a fed and even if he does clip Bruno he's gonna clip Donnie and then the feds will have a mess on their hands with a dead agent and a dead gangster that tests will show Donnie shot.

That's the movie of course, can't exactly remember but pretty sure it wasn't all that dramatic when they pulled Donnie out from undercover in real life.

No, in real life they just pulled him out when it was clear that his next move would have to be to whack Bruno.

Who was Jilly? How was he able to vouch for Donnie?

Jilly Greca was one of the first heavy Mob guys that Pistone met and was able to get close enough to to get real information/street cred. At the time Pistone met him Greca was an associate but he had his own crew already. Jilly's primary business interests were hijacking, burglary, robbery and fencing , which fit in quite well with Pistone's jewel thief cover. Supposedly Pistone never went out on jobs with them, which seems sorta suspicious in hindsight, but came up with enough "stolen" property on his own to allay most (not all) suspicions.

Shortly after Pistone began the association, Greco was formally inducted in the Colombo family. Pistone was able to use his association with Jilly as a reference to meet/interact with Lefty and the Bonannos. Lefty knew Jilly. Pistone thought that the FBI would gain more direct information on the Mafia and larger crimes if he slowly transferred the investigation from Jilly's crew to Lefty/Tony Mirra and the Bonannos.

I'm glad you brought out that point, Lilo, because I've always wondered how Pistone was able to maintain his credibility with the Mob and somehow avoid any direct involvement in any type of lawbreaking whatsoever. "Donnie Brasco" is a good movie and an excellent book. But I don't believe everything Pistone told us.

I never believed there was an "open contract" out on Pistone. Not for half a million dollars, not for a hundred dollars .

That's Pistone's massive ego allowing himself to believe that he was that important to the mob bosses. Why the Hell would Paul Castellano, of all people, sanction a hit on a guy who infiltrated another family? And that's not to mention the Hell that the FBI would rain down on the mob if they ever killed an agent.

Pure bullshit.

Right! The only things Mafia Dons have in common is greed, and distrust of each other. The Commission doesn't have a standing army and a treasury to wipe out police infiltrators. And, why would another Don cough up a dime to help the Bonannos undo a disaster of their own making?

They sure played with the drama at the end of the movie; it wasn't Lefty who was killed, it was Sonny Black.

I don't buy the "open contract" either. And the way Pistone has been defending the agent up in Boston who went away for aiding Bulger's murders and escape, all it does is make me more suspicious of anything he (Pistone) has to say.

And they want the FBI to go after Ossam Bin Laden? Maybe they should focus on Bulger first.

And don't forget that during the Lindley DeVecchio trial in Brooklyn, Pistone was his biggest apologist. I know the charges against him were thrown out, but I still got the feeling that he was a "dirty" cop.

I think anything pistone was attached to is tainted now (because of his support for fellow agents -- connelly in boston was bagged dead to rights).

I have the utmost respect for Joe Pistone, the guy barely saw his family and he had to hang round with the likes of Tony Mirra (a complete nasty bastard).

I believe if Pistone would have been allowed to been Formely "Made" into the Bonanno Family before getting pulled off the undercover case that today there would nolonger be a Bonanno family and another family with a differnt name would have emerged.?

The Massino family?
(Which would of course have been disbanded itself by now)

They chased the Bonannos from the Commission after the Pistone/Brasco debacle. They became a laughingstock. After that embarrassment, changing the name of the family would have done little to embarrass then any further. Once you've lost your credibility (in any walk of life), being called names is the least of your problems.

Besides, they didn't change the name of the Bonannos when the founder was exiled to Arizona, or when he wrote a self-serving book, did they?

So why bother after the Brasco incident?

Joe Massino wanted to change it to the "Massino Family" after all the B.S. that happened under the name Bonanno like Donnie Brasco,etc.
Thank God that didnt happen as he was a killer but a snitch just like Sammy Gravano.
I believe if the Bonanno family would have gotten Joe Pistone "Made" that it would no longer be called the Bonanno Family?
In my Opionion the next Boss to hold that family together in true LCN fashion for a period of time should propose the name change.?

Bonanno Sr. was a candy ass also.He was lucky that the commission let him retire to the sun,etc instead of gettn a bullet to the head or becoming stinky "Trunk Music" because the majority didnt care for him.
At the Time Genovese,Gambino,Luchesse,etc were not happy with him about other Rackets they were involved in that he turned his nose up to,etc and then the "Honor Thy Father" plus numerous other stuff.Bonanno gave me the impression he thought he was a better Sicilian/Italian than others in his line of work.

I honestly feel that the media and law enforcement do more to name/label the families than the members do.