I know this has probably come up before but after his testimony before the senate or lack thereof do you think Willie Cicci would have been considered a rat and killed. I had always assumed so because even though he doesn't give the Senate committee much regarding getting orders directly from Mike he does acknowledge that Micheal is head of the family which really goes against Omerta. In fact even admitting there was a boss and sometimes saying that boss' name was forbidden. i had heard somewhere that the Willie Cicci character was originally suppose to be part of GF3 as a major character but that the actor died suddenly before filming so Joey Zasa was introduced in his place. In my opinion this would seem odd since Pentangelli was killed and his testimony was more nondescript than Cicci's, though Pentangelli had more or less brought the problem on with going to the FBI in the first place. It would seem that Micheal would have taken care of Cicci along with Pentangelli also and not let him remain a part of the Corleone family.

Thoughts?

Cicci broke omerta and yes, his testimony that Michael was the boss of a crime family injured Michael's credibility as a respectable businessman. We're not shown what happened to Cicci because of the dramatic focus on Frankie. My guess is that Michael figured Cicci deserved to die, and that would be consistent with his policy of never giving an enemy a pass. But when Frankie recanted, Michael's problems with the Senate committee were solved. He induced Frankie to commit suicide because Frankie was the highest-level rat, and because, over time, Frankie might still have been an asset to the FBI in their pursuit of Michael. But Cicci, rat that he was, was no longer a threat to Michael. There was no Witness Protection Program at that time, so Michael could have arranged for Cicci to be murdered in prison by another inmate. But that might have stirred up speculation relating to Cicci's testimony against Michael, and he probably figured it'd be prudent to let the matter rest.

It is possible Cicci escaped the chair by agreeing to testify, but then again maybe not. My guess is they put him in isolation to get him to identify the "buffas" which would be a break in omerta.

"We have prison guards on the payroll don't we?"
What if one of those guards ruled Willie's death a suicide?"

"It might work... "

Speaking of "buffas"; although Willie testifies that he never took a direct order, he was only one person away. Michael-Clemenza-Cicci. Of course at that time Clemenza and Tessio were dead and Willie was under Frankie. But isn't unusual for Capos to be carrying out hits?

Cicci testified, "At first [emphasis added], I was a button." Presumably he graduated to more important tasks as he rose in the organization.

Turnbull do you when the Witness Protection Program started?

About 1971

Didn't Cicci get the order from Tom to kill Tessio? If not who gave the order? I don't think it was Clemenza. That would have been too much of a risk: Due to their old friendship Clemenza could have let him off the hook.
Or was he under the secret regime of Rocco after Sonny had died?

In the book, Clemenza and Tessio are kept apart by Vito to prevent them from getting too close and allowing things like that to happen.

I cannot believe that Michael would have allowed Cicci to live under any circumstances.

Clemenza garroted Carlo. No "buffas" there and Clemenza was present at Paulie's execution. Clemenza shotguns Stracci in the elevator. Dramatic affect? Probably. We never saw Tessio kill anyone. So in a few cases the Capo was the hitman or one step away.

For me I always thought Clemenza was happy to take out Carlo. It seems that it would have been personal to him because of him being Sonny's Godfather (or so I've always thought). As far as Tessio is concerned though we never saw him hit anyone I always thought he took care of the driver when Micheal took out Sollozo and McCluskey. Also it seems that real life mob history on occasion with high profile hits a capo has been given the contract.

I always saw Tessio as the weaker guy to Clemenza.

I havent read the book (yet), does he perform any acts of violence in that or is he more of the delegation kind of Capo that doesnt get his hands dirty?

In the pre-war days Tessio handled his business just like anyone else.

I always saw Tessio as more cunning and secretive and probably more suited to the role of consigliere than Tom Hagen after Genco died.

Tessio probably had a more suitable temperament to be consigliere. But Vito's decision to name Tom probably took into consideration two important factors: First, Tessio had operational responsibilities that would distract from the 24x7 service Tom would give as consigliere. Second, it could make trouble with Clemenza, who'd feel slighted.

Yeah I can agree with that. Though Luca Brasi might have been able to run the Tessio's crew, which of course Vito would have had to keep a tight rein on. I don't know how most people here feel but it seems that in the movies as well as the book Tom Hagen's appointment as consigliere is viewed somewhat as a mistake.

as micheal said tessio was always smarter..
clemenza was more of an enforcer...
if luca was in charge of a crew i think there would be more bad than good. he is my favorite character but wouldnt be a smart move

i dont think Michael would have left Cicci alive, most agree. With that said, how does FFC have a big part for him in GFIII? Does FFC completely ignore Michael's "way of doing things"?