Even if Bill Gertz is the author of the cited article (having left The Washington Times), the language is colourful, almost as if the Akula was at Kings Bay, not in the Gulf of Mexico:
The latest submarine incursion in the Gulf...
Plus a lot of jigsaw pieces all being added together - to support more defence spending. Such as the P-8, which has struggled to be sold:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_P-8_Poseidon

Elsewhere on SWC and an ocean away in the South China Sea freedom of navigation for all is cited as under threat by China. The Russian Akula was just doing that, exercising in international waters; something of course the USN SSK never do of course.

Then Gertz adds:
A second, alarming air incursion took place July 4 on the West Coast when a Bear H strategic bomber flew into U.S. airspace near California and was met by U.S. interceptor jets.
Similar flights by Bear bombers have been reported in the UK, but when examined closely the 'airspace' was not territorial airspace, but the UK air defence and civil aviation area - a very different legal concept, which has no standing in international law.

Given Gertz's record for obtaining help from within officialdom, one can happily speculate whose best interests are served by this unconfirmed report.