(CNN) One of the most galling aspects of Tuesday's breathtaking indictment of Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter and his wife, Margaret, was how the former Marine could allegedly act with such blatant disrespect for the military he once served in.

Beyond the accusations of the Hunters' graft and extravagance -- from in-cabin flights for the family's pet bunny to an $14,000 Italian vacation financed with campaign funds -- the indictment has opened Hunter to intense scrutiny from the many current and former service members who live in California's 50th District, where veterans compose nearly 10% of eligible voters.

In interviews earlier this year, some veterans told CNN they were puzzled by how a Marine who had served three combat tours overseas could so brazenly break the rules, or claim that suspicious charges on his campaign credit card were innocent mistakes. In some cases, that was one reason why they didn't believe the allegations swirling around him.

Now, in the indictment, federal prosecutors detailed a disturbing pattern where, they say, the Hunters attempted to disguise their purchases as benefiting wounded servicemen and women or the military itself.

The most striking example is an alleged conversation in 2015 between Duncan and Margaret Hunter about how he was planning to buy his "Hawaii shorts" but had run out of money.

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