Rose Firm Aides Shredded Foster Papers : Probe: Courier says he, roommate were told to destroy items. Lawyers say documents were unrelated to Whitewater inquiry.

A courier employed by the Rose Law Firm acknowledged Friday that he shredded documents belonging to late White House counsel Vincent Foster in January, a few weeks before the firm received a broadly worded subpoena for documents from Whitewater special counsel Robert B. Fiske Jr.

Clayton Lindsey, 19, of Little Rock, told The Times that both he and his roommate, Jeremy Hedges, also a courier at the law firm, were instructed to destroy the papers. He declined to describe the contents of the documents but said they could have been internal materials, as spokesmen for the firm have suggested, rather than files related to the Whitewater controversy.

Lindsey testified about the shredding to a federal grand jury on Feb. 16. His and Hedges’ testimony apparently led Fiske to issue the subpoena to the law firm.

Lawyers at the firm, where Foster practiced law before January, 1993, along with now-First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and two current Administration officials, do not deny that some documents belonging to Foster were shredded, but they have maintained that they never destroyed any materials that might be pertinent to Fiske’s investigation.

Reports of the shredding, which first appeared in the Washington Times and the New York Times, added to the many difficulties that the law firm--reputed to be the oldest west of the Mississippi River--has encountered since it came under scrutiny as a result of its involvement in the Whitewater controversy.

In the last few weeks, the firm’s lawyers have been forced to respond to allegations of conflict of interest, overbilling and destroying evidence.

Fiske is looking into allegations that President Clinton may have benefited improperly from his association with James B. McDougal, owner of a failed savings and loan and partner with the Clintons in a real estate development firm known as Whitewater Development Corp.

Although the inquiry centers on Whitewater, Fiske is also investigating the apparent suicide of Foster last summer. His investigation also is looking at the role played by Hillary Clinton and her firm in representing Whitewater and McDougal’s Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan.

In response to the couriers’ story, a spokesman for the law firm has acknowledged that some files belonging to Foster were found earlier this year when one lawyer was moving to a new office.

He said those documents were discarded because they were nothing more than “internal Rose firm materials,” such as notes of committee meetings.

Lindsey, a college student who works part time at the law firm, said the documents he and Hedges shredded were plainly marked as belonging to Foster.

After the couriers testified, Fiske sent a subpoena to the firm warning against the shredding or destruction of documents.

At the time, the subpoena was characterized by Rose lawyers as “extremely broadly worded,” but it is not known if discarded committee meeting notes and other internal documents would have been covered.

On Friday, Fiske declined to discuss the subpoena.

A special grand jury is expected to be impaneled later this month to begin hearing testimony in the Whitewater matter. The couriers appeared before a regular grand jury, which sat three days last month to hear a variety of preliminary matters related to Whitewater.

In interviews with The Times over the last month, several Rose Law Firm partners have strongly denied reports that the firm ever shredded any documents related to Whitewater, which would be a criminal act. Even before the subpoena was received, the firm’s lawyers were ethically bound to preserve evidence.

“You think if we were going to shred some documents from Madison and Whitewater, we would call in some clerks and say: ‘Here, we are going to shred Whitewater documents?’ ” asked Alan Bird, who represents the firm in Washington. “And do you think we would do it in the middle of the day?”

Many law firms routinely destroy confidential documents that are no longer needed. According to Rose partners, their firm did not own a shredder until 1992, when one was purchased in response to indications that news reporters covering the Clinton presidential campaign were foraging through the firm’s trash.

Lindsey said he and Hedges testified before the grand jury with the knowledge and approval of their employer, but they hired a lawyer from another firm to accompany them into the grand jury room.

He said his testimony has done nothing to undermine his employment at the firm, where he runs errands and does other tasks.

Hedges was working at the firm on Friday and could not be reached.

Times staff writer James Risen contributed to this story from Washington.