Washington (CNN) In an apparent break with President Donald Trump, outgoing US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley suggested the Saudi government needs to be held in continued account for the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

"The whole situation with Khashoggi is, we can't give them a pass. We can't," Haley said in an interview with The Atlantic magazine conducted Wednesday and released Friday. "The reason is, you have Saudi government officials that did this in a Saudi consulate. The Saudi government doesn't get a pass. We can't condone it, we can't ever say it's okay, we can't ever support thuggish behavior, and we have to say that," Haley said.

Haley acknowledged that the US had imposed sanctions against Saudi individuals allegedly involved in the dissident journalist's death, but said the US needed to continue to "push back" until there was full accountability. Asked specifically about whether Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman needed to be held to account, Haley said "the administration needs to decide."

"It's his government. His government did this, and so he technically is responsible," she noted.

Haley's comments stand in contrast to the staunch defense Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have launched on behalf of the crown prince. She spoke in the wake of a classified CIA briefing from which bipartisan senators emerged seemingly convinced of the crown prince's role in the premeditated murder and intent on pushing the administration to take a tougher stand.

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