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It was unclear how the White House would respond to Mr. Bolton, who left his post in September amid sharp disputes with Mr. Trump. The president did not address his former adviser in an interview with Rush Limbaugh, the conservative talk radio host, that aired on Monday, but he accused Democrats of trying to “affect the election illegally” by impeaching him.

Mr. Bolton did not say precisely what he would be willing to tell Congress. But his lawyer, Charles J. Cooper, told the House’s top lawyer in November that Mr. Bolton knew about “many relevant meetings and conversations” connected to the Ukraine matter that had not been shared with House impeachment investigators. And former White House officials and people close to Mr. Bolton have indicated that his testimony would most likely be damning to Mr. Trump and put additional pressure on moderate Republicans to consider convicting him.

While that could cause some Republican defections, it is unlikely to put him at great risk in the Senate, where a two-thirds vote — 67 senators — is needed to remove a president. Mr. McConnell has confidently predicted Mr. Trump’s acquittal.

The two parties have been at an impasse over the issue of witnesses for weeks now, and the dispute has delayed the start of Mr. Trump’s trial. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, has declined to send the Senate the charges against Mr. Trump, which would prompt the start of the trial, saying that she first wants assurances that Mr. McConnell would run a fair process.

Mr. McConnell argues the Senate should not even consider admitting new information in the trial until after it hears opening arguments from the prosecution and the defense. He addressed the only development obliquely in a speech on Monday afternoon, accusing Democrats of trying to “pre-commit the Senate to redoing House Democrats’ slapdash work for them, and pursuing avenues” that the House did not.

“The Senate has a unanimous, bipartisan precedent for when to handle midtrial questions such as witnesses: In the middle of the trial,” Mr. McConnell said.

The matter is all but certain to come to a vote at some point, and under Senate rules, it takes only 51 senators to call a witness or request new evidence, meaning Mr. McConnell’s ability to call the shots is limited. Democrats are focused on persuading moderate Republicans — like Senator Susan Collins of Maine, Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Senator Mitt Romney of Utah — to join them in insisting on witnesses.