It doesn’t take much to bump into a conflict of interest in the federal justice system.  Prosecutor Richard Zabel and his office did the smart thing by declaring the conflict of interest. End of story. Or at least it should be.

Bernie Madoff

By BRIAN ROSS and JOSEPH RHEE
ABC NEWS
Just days after being appointed, the new chief of the criminal division in the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan, Richard Zabel, has taken himself off the biggest case his office is handling, the investigation of the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme, because his father represents one of the potential targets.

“He has recused himself from any involvement in the Madoff case,” a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office, Rebekah Carmichael, told ABCNews.com Friday. Zabel’s appointment was announced Tuesday. The spokeswoman declined to provide any details about who would oversee and supervise the Madoff investigation.

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