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While Bolton had been known to clash with other administration officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, unknown at the time was the extent to which the then-national security adviser was fending off an effort by Trump’s personal friend and attorney, Rudy Giuliani, to pressure Ukraine to investigate Biden and Biden’s son, Hunter.

\"PHOTO:
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
PHOTO: Former White House national security aide Fiona Hill, and David Holmes, a U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, right, testify before the House Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 21, 2019.
>

Following a meeting with high-level diplomats from Ukraine at the White House, Bolton’s aide Fiona Hill said he told her to relay a message on his behalf to White House legal counsel.

“I am not part of whatever drug deal Sondland and (acting White House Chief of Staff Mick) Mulvaney are cooking up,” Hill testified before the House last fall.

Hill also testified to raising her objections to Bolton about a “smear campaign” launched by Giuliani targeting Marie Yovanovitch, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine at the time. Hill said she asked Bolton if there was anything they could do.

Bolton, \"basically indicated with body language that there was nothing much that we could do about it,\" Hill testified. \"And he then, in the course of that discussion, he said, that Rudy Giuliani was a hand grenade that was going to blow everybody up.\"

\"PHOTO:
ABC News
PHOTO: Rudy Giuliani in an interview with ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos on "This Week," June 3, 2018.
>

Around the same time Bolton stepped down – he insisted he resigned on his own accord and was never asked to leave – House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., was pressing the administration for details about a whistleblower complaint on Ukraine. It remains unclear whether Bolton’s decision to leave was in any way tied to his opposition to Giuliani’s efforts in Ukraine.

Bolton was never subpoenaed by House Democrats. The White House declined to cooperate with the House inquiry, and while some aides like Hill agreed to testify anyway, Trump’s top advisers like Mulvaney and Vice President Mike Pence ignored congressional requests.

House Democrats opted to move ahead with their inquiry and vote, rather than wait for the courts to weigh in on whether Trump’s top aides should be forced to comply with testimony.

Now the question becomes whether the Senate can force the issue again, particularly as new evidence trickles out. Last week, new emails emerged from a top Pentagon budget official and the White House budget office that suggested the president personally retained the hold on aid despite repeated warnings from the Pentagon that withholding aid was potentially illegal.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has put off handing over articles of impeachment – a necessary procedural move to kick off a Senate trial – until more is known about how the Senate trial will be structured. The move baffled Republicans who said they were happy to drop the matter and move on. But it also frustrated Trump and his allies who are eager for a favorable trial for Trump by the Republican majority.

But the question now is whether vulnerable or moderate GOP senators will side with Democrats without a procedural agreement reached by McConnell and Schumer.

Collins said she still hopes the two sides can reach an agreement on the rules.

On Bolton, Collins – who is up for re-election this year – said: “There are a number of witnesses that may well be appropriate … of which he would certainly be one.”

ABC News' Trish Turner and Mariam Khan contributed to this report.

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