This reminds me of the classroom management I do at school. If I call someone out for doing something inappropriate, against the rules or expectations more often than not their first response is to deny they did whatever. As they continue their defense the main thrust of their explanation is to say someone else did it FIRST… giving their previous plea of “not guilty” no legs to stand on. Their main objective is to first shed their own responsibilty and give it to someone else. What I hope people realize (myself included sometimes) is that, though harder in the short run, fessing up to your mistakes, taking responsibility for your actions, and changing that behavior (or making amends) is better for you and your relationships in the long run.