deodorized, excused, explained away, glossed (over), glozed (over), palliated, whitewashed
sugarcoated, varnishedapologized, atoned, confessedaccounted (for), explained, justified, rationalizedminimized, played down, soft-pedaledalleviated, eased, lessened, lightened, mitigated, moderated, softened, temperedabsolved, acquitted, cleared, exculpated, exonerated, vindicated