People

By Michele Orecklin

HERE'S JOHNNIE!

You've got to give the man credit for insisting on working only with A-list talent. In the recording studio, SEAN ("PUFFY") COMBS has produced tracks for Madonna, Mariah Carey and girlfriend Jennifer Lopez. In the Hamptons, he sips Cristal with Martha Stewart and Calvin Klein. So why should he have anything but the best when it comes to legal representation? In anticipation of a weapons-felony indictment last week, Combs signed up attorneys Benjamin Brafman--who represented Mob turncoat Sammy ("the Bull") Gravano--and JOHNNIE COCHRAN (you may remember his work with a certain former football player). "There should not be a rush to judgment," said Brafman after the indictment, a sentiment clearly endorsed by Puffy. If convicted, he could face up to 15 years in prison, where the top talent isn't nearly so refined.

FAME AND MISFORTUNE

Lately, so many crimes are being committed against famous people, INSTYLE magazine may need a new section.

Cameron Diaz OCCUPATION: Actress WHAT HAPPENED: Passport and cash stolen by guard at Los Angeles airport SUGGESTED PUNISHMENT: Forced viewing of Diaz' next film, Charlie's Angels

Ben Stein [OCCUPATION:] Game-show host [WHAT HAPPENED:] Robbed at gunpoint of cash, credit cards and watch [SUGGESTED PUNISHMENT:] Hearing Stein's voice on a loop for 25 to life

Posh Spice [OCCUPATION:] Singer [WHAT HAPPENED:] A criminal gang plotted to kidnap Posh and son Brooklyn [SUGGESTED PUNISHMENT:] Granting Posh naming rights to gang's children

Barbra Streisand [OCCUPATION:] Diva [WHAT HAPPENED:] Trailed by an overly aggressive photographer [SUGGESTED PUNISHMENT:] Repeated listenings to the Yentl sound track

TRUMP DUMPS TO STUMP

When discussing his potential bid for the presidency, DONALD TRUMP suggested on occasion that the beauty of his girlfriend was more important than the brilliance of his tax plan. "When we walk into a restaurant, I watch grown men weep," he once said, distinguishing himself from those politicians who are forced to move voters through their oratory. But last week Trump split from the envy-inducing Slovenian model MELANIA KNAUSS because, according to associates, he felt the need to focus on his campaign. And in fact, a day later, he was back on the stump, pressing the flesh with 32 young ladies from the Miss U.S.A. pageant. Hey, beauty contestants are voters too.

FEUD OF THE WEEK

NAME: Jeffrey ("Boob") Toobin OCCUPATION: scandal chronicler BEST PUNCH: In A Vast Conspiracy, his new book about the Lewinsky affair, Toobin writes that Goldberg once bragged about sleeping with President Lyndon Johnson

NAME: Lucianne ("Babe") Goldberg OCCUPATION: scandal catalyst BEST PUNCH: Calling Toobin's allegations untrue, the woman who encouraged Linda Tripp to tape presidential consort Monica Lewinsky is threatening a libel suit

WINNER: Lyndon Johnson, because now he'll be remembered for something beside Vietnam