The story about a Russian sub cruising for several weeks undetected in the Gulf of Mexico appeared in the Washington Free Beacon.

A Russian nuclear-powered attack submarine armed with long-range cruise missiles operated undetected in the Gulf of Mexico for several weeks and its travel in strategic U.S. waters was only confirmed after it left the region, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.

It is only the second time since 2009 that a Russian attack submarine has patrolled so close to U.S. shores.

The stealth underwater incursion in the Gulf took place at the same time Russian strategic bombers made incursions into restricted U.S. airspace near Alaska and California in June and July, and highlights a growing military assertiveness by Moscow.

It was written by respected national security writer Bill Gertz and, for obvious reasons, never made it into the mainstream press.

But Senator John Cornyn wants some answers from the Pentagon:

After receiving no satisfaction to earlier comments to the media, Cornyn wrote a letter today to Admiral Jonathan Greenert, the Pentagon's Chief of Naval Operations, demanding answers.

"The submarine patrol, taken together with the air incursions, seems to represent a more aggressive and destabilizing Russian military stance that could pose risks to our national security," Cornyn wrote. "This is especially troubling given the drastic defense cuts sought by President Obama, which include reductions in funding for antisubmarine defense systems."

The Pentagon denies the incident even occurred:

We are aware of the reporting but we see nothing to indicate that it is true," Fage told the Houston Chronicle.

These maneuvers by Putin are as old as the first days of the cold war; every president has been tested in some way by the Russian military in order to gauge the American response. The fact that we either were unaware of the sub's presence or we simply didn't respond should tell Putin plenty about Obama.