Idiot reportedly prosecutes moderates (8)
I believe the answer is:
assuages
'moderates' is the definition.
(moderate can mean to assuage or reduce)
'idiot reportedly prosecutes' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'idiot' could be 'ass' (I've seen this before) and 'ass' is found within the answer.
'reportedly' could be 'e' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'e' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
(Other definitions for assuages that I've seen before include "Makes something less severe, pain say" , "provides relief" , "Satisfies an appetite or desires" , "Soothes with sausages" .)