The left-wing outlet ProPublica reported earlier this year that Justice Clarence Thomas went on expensive vacations paid for by conservative mega-donor Harlan Crow, something many Democrats treated as bombshell revelation. 

However, one federal judge recently came to Thomas' defense, arguing that there is no evidence that the justice's relationship with Crow had any impact on his ruling. 

Federal judge says Thomas' rulings have always been "consistent"

Judge Amul Thapar serves on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and made that claim during an interview last week with CNN.

"Judges are just like every other human being. We have a diverse group of friends, and those friends don’t influence the way we do our job," Thapar insisted.

He went on to contend that the proper way to determine whether or not a justice has been improperly influenced is to "judge their works, and what they do, against what they’ve done in the past."

"And if it’s consistent, then it’s hard to say anything influenced them," Thapar continued, adding that it is "disheartening" to see "people who know better" attempting to malign the Supreme Court's integrity.

Sen. Lindsay Graham accuses Democrats of having a double standard on justices

CNN noted that Tharpar has authored a book called "The People’s Justice" in which he examines Thomas' judicial philosophy.

Tharpar is not the only one who has spoken out for Thomas, as South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham did so as well in May.

He pointed to how Democrats expressed no outrage over questionable decisions involving the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Ginsburg donated signed copy of opinion to be auctioned at political fundraiser

One example came in 2019 when Justice Ginsburg was given a $1 million award that she could donate to organizations of her choosing.

They were also untroubled in 1998 when she donated a signed copy of one of her decisions to the pro-abortion National Organization for Women so that it could auction off the document at a fundraiser.

Here’s pro-abortion @NationalNOW 1998 auction list, item 49, RBG autographed copy of her VMI opinion. As @LindseyGrahamSC said, imagine if Justice Alito donated signed Dobbs opinion to @SBAprolife?? But crickets from the Left on RBG’s conduct. @SenJudiciaryGOP pic.twitter.com/OhFmacJV9c

— Mark Paoletta (@MarkPaoletta) May 2, 2023

Graham suggested that their reaction would be very different if one of the Supreme Court's Republican appointees were to accept a similar award from a conservative group or help with political fundraising.