One word for "hiding an obvious fact"

I will not "gloss over" the fact that this task is difficult.

Though I would not want to miss an opportunity to use @FumbleFingers' "obfuscating", people frequently refer to the behavior of omitting discussion of an obvious or uncomfortable topic or detail by admitting to "glossing over" those specific issues.

Definition of "gloss over" from the Cambridge Dictionaries Online:

"to avoid considering something, such as an embarrassing mistake , to make it seem not important, and to quickly continue talking about something else"

For both of your example sentences, discreet was the first word I thought of. I feel it implies that although a thing may be public knowledge, you are not the type to talk about it.

Turn a blind eye is an apt phrase.

turn a blind eye (to someone or something) Fig. to ignore something and pretend you do not see it. The usher turned a blind eye to the little boy who sneaked into the theater. How can you turn a blind eye to all those starving children?

http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/turn+a+blind+eye