excused, explained away, extenuated, 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