Holder is certainly rattling the saber, but only because his hand is shaking so badly.
Reality check: there's not a damn thing the US can do to Assange. He isn't a US citizen, and he isn't stupid enough to set foot in the US or a US territory.
The US would have to convince another country to arrest and extradite Assange to the US. And there are few countries that would do so.
For that to even happen, the US would have to identify a specific instance where release of the information violated the provisions of the Espionage Act. That's going to be difficult when almost every bit of the information released so far is no real surprise to anyone.
And it would have to be balanced against the First Amendment, whose protections have been greatly expanded since the Espionage Act was enacted.
Poetic ... and true!
But dont discount our ability to get him. Go after him. Hound him. Never let go. People mock sending the lawyers, but guess what, we are good at that. This guy could live a miserable existence spending his life in European courts fending our lawyers off. Worth every penny.
I say some Navy Seals should kidnap him and get him onto a military transport to Guantanamo Bay where he should be tried by a military tribunal. Once he is found guilty and executed his body should be pulverized into tiny pieces that should be thrown over the side of a fishing boat as chum.