come with clean hands

To have acted innocently, ethically, or in good faith going in or leading up to something. Used primarily in legal contexts in reference to the behavior of those bringing lawsuits against others. The judge ruled that the company had not come with clean hands when it brought forward allegations of intellectual property theft, due to unlawful intimidation practices it committed against the defendant prior to trial. I swear, I've come with clean hands—I had nothing to do with that robbery. We kept you in the dark about the deal so you could always come with clean hands in case things went wrong.