u/cj2488

I probably should know the answer to this question, but I cannot think of it. What information did Fredo give to Roth and Ola that lead to the attempted hit on Michael in his bedroom in II?

Fredo says he didn't know it was going to be a hit, he says they were looking for information because Michael was being tough on the negotiations, and there would be something in it for him. What information could he have gave that allowed Roth to set up two guys to machine gun Michael through his bedroom window that would also be information that Fredo would be clueless would lead to a hit?

Presumably it wouldn't have anything to do with the location of the bedroom, layout of the compound, when Michael would be there, or the c​urtains being open, because wtf else would Roth need to know any of that. None of those details are pertinent to whatever business negotiations Michael and Roth were having (presumably over Cuba). And Roth knew the day Michael would be there because Michael meets with Ola during the party.

The answer is probably obvious, but I seem a little lost on it

Based on a couple of recent threads, i was thinking about this scene, and came up with a theory about the scene in Part I where Michael tells Tom "You're out Tom." Maybe it's pretty obvious, but hopefully it's kind of interesting

I think there are maybe 5 different things Michael is trying to accomplish in this scene.

1. He's insulating Tom from the violent part of the Family. That's obvious, but why he's doing it is not completely obvious. What do I mean?
2. in this scene Michael is talking to Barzini. He's trying to make Barzini think Michael is weak and inept. How is he doing that?
3. I think we can presume that Carlo is still feeding Barzini information. I think we can presume that because earlier in the book there is the scene where Clemenza is trying throw Paulie off by getting him to think about to gather more information to give to Barzini (the going to the mattresses scene). Carlo is likely still doing the same thing Paulie did because he already has that connection and he wants more power. And Michael and Vito also likely know that.
4. because Carlo is still telling Barzini information, Michael knows whatever he says in that "you're out Tom" meeting will be relayed to Barzini.

So Michael makes a decision to remove a long-time and effective consigliere, and signal that Tom is not part of the violence. He also tries to keep Tessio and Clemenza from fighting back, he elevates a sick​ Vito to consigliere, and elevates his weak, traitor brother-in-law to underboss. All of these moves show weakness and ineptness, which Tessio and Clemenza say during the meeting. It makes Mike look weak, which is exactly what he wants Barzini to think.

5. it also sets up Michael to smoke out who the rat will be after Vito dies, because by projecting weakness, he's testing to see who will be willing to remain loyal.

It's adds an interesting layer if you think that everything Michael does during this scene is him actually talking to someone who's not there, and using his knowledge of the traitor in his Family to trick his unseen enemy into thinking the opposite of what Michael is actually going to do.