Nussbaum Defends His Actions During Foster Inquiry : White House: Officials have objected to presidential counsel’s conduct in the search of Clinton friend’s office and disposition of files there.

Presidential counsel Bernard Nussbaum on Wednesday defended his conduct during the investigation of the apparent suicide of White House attorney Vincent Foster, saying he was only doing what was required of a lawyer in difficult circumstances.

Law enforcement officials have raised objections to Nussbaum’s role in the search of Foster’s office after his death on July 20, 1993, the disposition of files found there and the presence of White House lawyers during questioning of potential witnesses.

Nussbaum’s actions in the aftermath of Foster’s death are likely to be reviewed by Robert B. Fiske Jr., the recently appointed special counsel who is investigating Clinton’s role in the ill-fated Whitewater real estate and banking affair in Arkansas.

Foster was a close friend of President Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. He handled some of their personal legal matters, including the sale of their interest in Whitewater Development Corp., a failed Ozark Mountain vacation property venture.

Nussbaum’s actions during the investigation of Foster’s death contributed to suspicions that the White House was trying to shield relevant material from investigators, fueling the controversy that led Clinton to reluctantly authorize appointment of the special counsel in January.

But Nussbaum, a combative New York lawyer, strenuously defended his actions during an interview Wednesday, insisting that he acted properly and ethically at all times and never intended to impede the investigation or conceal potential White House knowledge or documents.

Police and government lawyers have complained that Nussbaum did not share with them information from files found in Foster’s office and that he or his staff attorneys sat in on Justice Department interviews of White House employees, potentially inhibiting candid responses.

Nussbaum disputed those assertions. “We did not interfere with the investigation one whit,” he said. “To accuse me of interference is not to understand the role of the lawyer, the obligations of the lawyer.”

He said he had a duty as the President’s attorney to protect the confidentiality of the Clintons’ private records of their Whitewater dealings, which were removed from Foster’s office and sent to the Clintons’ personal lawyer, David Kendall of the Washington law firm of Williams & Connolly.

Legal authorities said it is virtually certain that Nussbaum will be called before a grand jury investigating Foster’s death and Whitewater under Fiske’s guidance.

The U.S. Park Police, which had primary responsibility for investigating Foster’s death because his body was found on federal parkland in Virginia, have complained in a still-secret report that Nussbaum did not allow them to inspect the files found in Foster’s office, sources who have seen the report said.

In a 2 1/2-hour session in Foster’s office two days after the death, Nussbaum sorted through his deputy’s papers in the presence of officials from the Park Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department. Nussbaum placed the documents in three piles--files relating to official government business, Foster’s private papers and the Clintons’ personal materials.

The Park Police have publicly complained that Nussbaum did not permit them to review any of the papers, making it impossible for them to determine whether any of the documents would help explain the apparent suicide.

Nussbaum said some of the files in Foster’s office were the Clintons’ personal property and could not be turned over without their permission. Clinton ultimately agreed to yield the files to the Justice Department and began turning them over last month.

The search of Foster’s office by Nussbaum and two other White House officials the night of his death also has raised questions.

Nussbaum said he was in Foster’s office, with Margaret A. Williams, the First Lady’s chief of staff, and Patsy Thomasson, a longtime Clinton associate now on the White House staff, for about 10 minutes. He said they looked on Foster’s desk and on other office furniture for a note or evidence of blackmail but found nothing.

During most of that time, Williams sat crying on the sofa while Thomasson and Nussbaum conducted the search, Nussbaum said. The Secret Service officially secured Foster’s office about midmorning the next day.

Although Park Police have objected to the presence of Nussbaum or members of his staff during questioning of assistants in his office, Nussbaum said police officers did not complain at the time and raised their objections long after the fact.

“We never cut off people from asking questions,” Nussbaum said. “This was not a criminal investigation.” He said his staff deals with sensitive matters and a Park Police officer could have inadvertently raised questions that involved national security or privileged information.

Nussbaum rejected suggestions of a parallel between his actions and the insistence by John W. Dean III, counsel to former President Richard Nixon, that he attend FBI interrogations of White House employees about Watergate.

Dean’s presence at those sessions, which he used to monitor the government’s investigation for Nixon, contributed to the resignation of Acting FBI Director L. Patrick Gray III, who did not object to Dean’s presence.

The Dean episode should be familiar ground to Nussbaum. He was a senior counsel on the House panel that drew up impeachment charges against Nixon and in that capacity supervised the work of a young staff member, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Nussbaum said he disagreed with a Justice Department request that the White House lawyers stay out of the questioning. “But I acceded to it,” he said. “Most people went through without lawyers. I wasn’t happy about it.”

* FIRM DENIES SHREDDING: The First Lady’s former law firm denies destroying documents related to the Whitewater Development Corp. A14