A judge won’t allow for President Donald Trump to be added as a defendant on a lawsuit against the Dakota Access pipeline.
A group of Native Americans want to join a lawsuit filed by their tribes. Group members think they might be better suited than tribes to make some claims against the pipeline.
They want to add Trump because his administration pushed through completion of the long-stalled pipeline. The pipeline began shipping oil for customers on June 1.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg says he’ll let the group members join under certain conditions including they not add Trump.
Boasberg says they’d have to sue Trump separately. The group’s attorney says that’s being considered.
The White House says the administration is confident federal analysis of the pipeline’s environmental impacts “is legally sound.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article.