I'm pretty sure I heard a fed tape of the Clown stating that the Spilotro brothers were his boys and he wouldn't have allowed them to be clipped. But he was in jail at the time.

Not sure how that would've happened since it's pretty obvious Joey Doves (and I'm sure Accardo approved) gave the order.

Whether the feds thought Auippa was not bright is irrelevant. He ran it with an iron fist and didn't rat.