To provide an excuse for.
To provide an alibi for.
The plea or mode of defense under which a person on trial for a crime proves or attempts to prove being in another place when the alleged act was committed.
An excuse, especially one used to avoid responsibility or blame.
To employ a pretext, which involves using a false or contrived purpose for soliciting the gain of something else.
A false, contrived, or assumed purpose or reason; a pretense.