Denise Modrzejewski has long served as the political fundraising arm of a powerful development-lobbying operation run by her husband, veteran City Hall lobbyist Chris Modrzejewski. When Los Angeles banned campaign donations from registered lobbyists in 2006, Chris stopped contributing—and Denise started. Since then, she’s poured tens of thousands of dollars into city campaigns, effectively continuing the family’s influence operation by proxy. The Modrzejewskis’ network, which has surfaced in connection with the Huizar corruption probe and the Shangri-La development controversy, epitomizes how developers and their lobbyists skirt the spirit of L.A.’s ethics laws while keeping their access intact.