By Michael McAuliff

It’d be easy to miss, but Brooklyn Rep. Yvette Clarke also was ensnared in that Caribbean travel probe that’s giving Charlie Rangel so much trouble.

But unlike Rangel, Clarke was cleared.

She chose kind of an odd way to to trumpet her clean bill of ethical health, though. Her office appears to have e-mailed her statement after midnight Friday, very early Saturday morning.

We almost missed it, but here it is:

Rep. Clarke Vindicated By House Ethics Review

Today, the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (Ethics Committee) ruled that Rep. Yvette D. Clarke “…did not knowingly violate any provision of the Code of Official Conduct or any law, rule, regulation or other standard of conduct applicable to her conduct in the performance of her duties or the discharge of your responsibilities with respect to her travel to attend the 2007 Multi-National Business Conferences hosted by the Carib News Foundation.”

“I am pleased that the House Ethics Committee concluded that I “committed no wrongdoing’ and followed the proper procedures surrounding a trip that I took to the Carib News Foundation Conference in 2007,” stated Rep. Yvette D. Clarke. “It is unfortunate that these allegations have taken attention away from the substance of the annual conference, which provides a platform for CARICOM nations to maintain an open dialogue with the Unites States.”

“It should be noted that my Congressional District is comprised of one of the most diverse constituencies in the country, with one of the largest concentrations of Caribbean Americans in the nation,” added Rep. Clarke. “As a senior Member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, I recognize the complex and significant security issues facing our ‘third border’, including drug and human trafficking, terrorism, and civil unrest. I understand that we must employ a consistent and productive dialogue with Caribbean nations in order to adequately address the international security challenges that face our Western Hemisphere. As long as I represent the 11th Congressional District of New York, I will continue to travel to the Caribbean to actively engage those nations in an open and productive dialogue with the U.S.”

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dc/2010/03/yvette-clarke-im-in-the-clear.html#ixzz0gwfi7A5K