This is good stuff ! I've read every book and article I can get my hands on about the FBI and their efforts to get Sam Giancana.

Some of you guys are from Chicago so you would be be privy to more info than anyone. But I'll make a few comments and you can weigh in and share your thoughts if you so desire.

The Lockstep program was utilized not only to get Giancana but to bring ATTENTION to him. The FBI wanted to get Ricca /Accardo, Outfit members, the press and everyone, focused on Giancana. This would bring so much attention to him that dissention and morale problems, etc., would evolve in The Outfit.

There appear to be several reasons why Mooney was AWOL. We've all read about Phyllis McGuire, Judith Campbell Exner, the Kennedy's, Sinatra, etc. But another reason was to avoid the Lockstep program and the FBI. All the confrontations, verbal exchanges and insults were reported in newspapers and magazines, both in Chicago and throughout the country, just exactly what law enforcement wanted. Think about it.

No question in my mind that Giancana's men loved him. He was a true gangster. He just got caught up in a whirlwind and had nowhere to go. Regardless of who The Outfit boss was, they would've had a bullseye on their back. Did Giancana make it easy for the FBI?
Sure. He was rock solid, 100% gangster and he didn't back up for anyone. It was his way, the highway, or the grave. Whether he liked it or not he had become a "Celebrity Gangster." Once the publicity "rained down" there was just too much attention on The Outfit. Some of his men had to decide what to do and where to go. They were extremely loyal to Giancana, but they had to survive, and thus make a choice.