As Hurricane Harvey raced toward Texas on Friday evening, the White House was racing to release their own set of headlines that ended up partially overshadowing Friday night's storm coverage.

The Trump administration kept journalists busy on Friday night by announcing details of a ban, a pardon and a departure.

Some Democrats, such as Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), suggested the Friday night news dump - long a tradition for officials looking to bury controversial news stories - was a deliberate attempt to hide wrongdoing.

Under cover of hurricane and Friday night darkness, Trump pardons Arpaio and flouts rule of law - already producing backlash. https://t.co/frdUJkG5Nt — Richard Blumenthal (@SenBlumenthal) August 26, 2017

Here's a look at the headlines that gathered along with the Category 4 storm:

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Trump's memo banning transgender individuals from the miliary

The White House's first news break on Friday evening was the announcement President Trump signed a presidential memorandum officially instructing the Defense Department to stop accepting transgender individuals from joining the armed forces.

While the memo bars people who identify as transgender from enlisting, it instructs Defense Secretary James Mattis James Norman MattisBiden courts veterans amid fallout from Trump military controversies Trump says he wanted to take out Syria's Assad but Mattis opposed it Gary Cohn: 'I haven't made up my mind' on vote for president in November MORE to determine how to further handle transgender people currently in the military.

The memo was essentially a more detailed version of the president's announcement of the ban last month on Twitter. The president did not brief military officials on the original announcement.

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"After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military," Trump tweeted in July.

"Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you," he said.

The announcement was met with criticism from across the political spectrum.

"it would be a step in the wrong direction to force currently serving transgender individuals to leave the military solely on the basis of their gender identity rather than medical and readiness standards that should always be at the heart of Department of Defense personnel policy," Sen. John McCain John Sidney McCainBiden's six best bets in 2016 Trump states Replacing Justice Ginsburg could depend on Arizona's next senator The Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - Washington on edge amid SCOTUS vacancy MORE (R-Ariz.) said in a statement Friday.

Trump pardons Joe Arpaio

The White House went on to announce the pardon of the former sheriff of Maricopa County, Ariz. Joe Arpaio on Friday, putting an end to speculation that had been brewing for weeks.

Trump's decision to spare Arpaio comes after the controversial former lawman was accused of racially profiling Latinos and was convicted of contempt of criminal contempt.

The pardon also spurred backlash from both sides of aisle.

.@POTUS's pardon of Joe Arpaio, who illegally profiled Latinos, undermines his claim for the respect of rule of law https://t.co/2FckGtwQ2m — John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) August 26, 2017

.@POTUS pardon of fellow birther Arpaio makes mockery of rule of law, & says communities of color can be targeted & abused w/ total impunity — Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) August 26, 2017

Like the transgender ban, Arpaio's pardon was expected. Trump hinted at the pardon on Tuesday night during a rally in Phoenix.

"You know what, I'll make a prediction. I think he's going to be just fine," the president said on Tuesday.

"But I won't do it tonight, because I don't want to cause any controversy," he added.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the president would make the announcement at an "appropriate time."

Gorka leaves his White House post

Reports surfaced amid the already chaotic news night saying Trump's advisor Sebastian Gorka left the White House after submitting a harsh resignation letter to the president that was first obtained by The Federalist.

“Regrettably, outside of yourself, the individuals who most embodied and represented the policies that will ‘Make America Great Again,’ have been internally countered, systematically removed, or undermined in recent months," Gorka wrote in the letter.

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After the news was first reported, the White House implied in a statement to The Hill that Gorka was pushed out of his position.

“Sebastian Gorka did not resign, but I can confirm he no longer works at the White House,” an official said.

Gorka's resignation comes exactly one week after chief White House strategist Steve Bannon officially left the White House, adding to the list of Friday night departures from the administration.

Gorka shared many of the same nationalist views as Bannon. The two worked together at Breitbart prior to joining the Trump administration.

Gorka's role in the White House was never detailed in public.