Here is my post about Massino's comments on the Commission:

Now Massino has testified that the infamous Mafia "commission" hasn't had a meeting in 25 years, according to AP. "There ain't no commission," he added.

Since the formation of the modern mob back in the 1930s following the end of the Castellammarese War, the leaders of New York City's five crime families -- plus a couple of other families -- held occasional summits to lay down rules and settle disputes. This is something Luciano supposedly put in place back at the very beginning.

But these Commission meetings stopped happening after Gambino boss Paul Castellano was assassinated outside a Manhattan restaurant in 1985, and the heads of the other families went to prison for racketeering, Massino said.

This does not jibe with published reports about accounts of Commission meetings in which John Gotti sat in for the Gambino family; ironically, one of Gotti's goals at one such meeting was to get the Bonanno family's seat back for his good buddy, Joe Massino (the Bonannos had lost their place on the "board" following the Donnie Brasco scandal, as well as the family's reputation for focusing on drug dealing, it has been reported).

Gotti also supposedly held his own against the Chin one or two times at these meetings, which were indeed held following Castellano's death because Gotti was there, according to books by Jerry Capeci and others.

Gotti used these meetings -- there were at least a couple -- to advance his alliances and own interests, a true Machiavellian. In addition to getting the Bonannos back in, and thus making them his pawns, he reportedly attempted to convince the Chin to start making new members -- an obvious ploy to earn the respect of any men made by Chin because they would believe they got their stripes thanks to Gotti. But the Chin got the better of the Gambino Don -- whom Gigante tried to assassinate with the help of Lucchese confederates -- by telling Gotti, in so many words, "Thanks for your interest, but I'll handle my own family."

A trio, at least, of Gambino made men were killed in retaliation for Paul, but Gotti never knew these murders -- of Gotti underboss Frank DeCicco, Gotti bodyguard/chauffeur Bobby Boriello and Gotti friend/fierce hit man Ed Lino (who had blood ties to the Bonannos) -- were connected and could be traced back to the Chin.

Though he said, "There ain't no commission," Massino acknowledged that top leaders of the crime rings did and do get together sometimes. So why was Gotti trying to get Joe his seat back, if there were no Commission? Perhaps Joe looked down on the Commission, since he wasn't allowed to be on it, at least for a time. Is he is getting his revenge by belittling it now?

Maybe Massino is lying; maybe he's telling it like he sees it. We'll never know. This entire issue of a "Commission" could be a matter of simple semantics.