He's a stand-up guy alright, but this was probably a poor decision. Political commentators should either make their financial obligations clear (like when they are clearly pushing a product) or not take them at all. But I'm not shocked to see government hire people to publicize something. It' called PR and its legit.
It may be legal, but "legit"? It's sure not ethical and if we had found the Dept of Education paying Dan Rather in 1999, we would have all just $#!T.