brushing (aside or off), condoning, discounting, disregarding, excusing, forgiving, glossing (over), glozing (over), ignoring, overlooking, overpassing, papering over, pardoning, passing over, remitting, shrugging off, whitewashing, winking (at)

explaining, justifying, rationalizingabsolving, acquitting, clearing, exculpating, exonerating, vindicatingwaiving, waving (aside or off)

closing one's eyes to, forgiving and forgetting

heeding, marking, minding, noting, objecting (to)