Keep reading for today’s look at #OpenGov news, events, and analysis including a Guardian interview with Edward Snowden, a new model for journalism in Germany, and a profile of a major power broker in North Carolina state politics.

National News

• Many small K Street firms have seen business booming in the past few months, with some firms posting record earnings in the second quarter. It’s still unclear how larger firms are faring in an increasingly gridlocked Congress, but boutique firms still appear to be thriving. (The Hill)
• House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa has questioned the handling of an FDA rulemaking on the labeling of generics. Legislators have discovered that the only group consulted during the rulemaking process was an association of trial lawyers. (Regulatory Focus)
• Officials from the IRS filed sworn declarations in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia giving accounts of the events surrounding the destruction of IRS official Lois Lerner’s hard drive. The statements are the first to be filed in court rather than given to a Congressional panel. (Politico)
• The Guardian has posted the transcript of an extended interview with NSA contractor-turned-leaker Edward Snowden, including discussion of recent developments in US-Germany relations, backdoors and the threat they pose to internet security, and NSA culture and oversight around the sharing of sexually explicit material. (The Guardian)

International News

• Germany will be getting its first data-centric investigative journalism nonprofit. CORRECT!V (Correctiv) is funded by the Brost Foundation and will operate on a model similar to that of ProPublica’s early days. The organization seeks to build a model for nonprofit and investigative journalism in Europe. (Nieman Journalism Lab)
• In yet another setback, election workers in Afghanistan walked out in the first few days of counting over disputes regarding which votes should be discarded as fraudulent. In three days of counting, the team of auditors had only processed 435 of 22,000 ballot boxes; at this rate, Afghans may not have a president until 2015. (The Guardian)

State and Local News

• Art Pope occupies a central role in N.C. state politics, having spent over a quarter-century as a wealthy donor building a conservative policy network in the largely Democratic state. He now serves as budget director in Governor McCrory’s administration, perhaps (as some claim) as the true power behind the throne (Washington Post)
• The Arkansas Republican Party voted to oppose a constitutional amendment that would extend term limits to sixteen years in the Legislature while tightening ethics rules that would prohibit most lobbyist gifts and corporate campaign contributions. (Washington Times)
• Florida Democrat Rep. Patrick Murphy has made his first ad buy of the 2014 election season, reserving $1.4 million in air time at television stations in the West Palm Beach-Treasure Coast media market. Murphy faces a challenge from one of six GOP primary contenders. (Politico)

Events This Week

• Campaign Boot Camp: Targeted Web Ads. National Press Club. Tues., 7/22. 9:30 AM. 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor, Washington, D.C.
• Aneesh Chopra, “Innovative State: How New Technologies Can Transform Government”. National Press Club. Tues., 7/22. 6:00 PM. 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor, Washington, D.C.
• The DISCLOSE Act (S.2516) and the Need for Expanded Public Disclosure of Funds Raised and Spent to Influence Federal Elections
• The Social Impact of Open Data (featuring Sunlight’s National Policy Manager, Emily Shaw). Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. Wed., 7/23. 12:00 PM. 1101 K Street NW 610A, Washington, D.C.
• A More Efficient and Effective Government: The National Technical Information Service. Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Financial and Contracting Oversight. Wed., 7/23. 2:30 PM. SD-342. Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C.
• Licensed to Lie: Exposing Corruption in the Department of Justice. Cato Institute. Thurs., 7/24. 12:00 PM. Hayek Auditorium, 1000 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, D.C.
• White House Office of Political Affairs: Is Supporting Candidates and Campaign Fund-Raising an Appropriate Use of a Government Office? House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Fri., 7/25. 9:00 AM. 2154 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 
• Data Transparency Breakfast: Transforming Gov Reporting Around the World. Data Transparency Coalition. Mon., 7/28. 7:30 AM. 901 K Street NW, 11th Floor, Washington, D.C.

Do you want to track transparency news? You can follow the progress of relevant bills, court cases, and regulations using Scout. You can also get Today in #OpenGov sent directly to your preferred news reader. If you would like suggest an event, please email mrumsey@sunlightfoundation.com by 7 am on the Monday prior to the event.