This is only the signing of the extradition request. It still needs to pass the UK legal system to become valid and actionable. There are a number of pretty high hurdles they must pass in order to succeed, and they must succeed BOTH in the UK and in the USA:
1. They must successfully argue that he is not a journalist, or was not acting as a journalist at the time.
2. They must successfully argue that the federal crimes he's accused of also constitute an act of terrorism under section 2332b (which gives the test in subsection (g)(5): "is calculated to influence or affect the conduct of government by intimidation or coercion, or to retaliate against government conduct") in order for the indictment to be valid under an 8 year statute of limitations rather than 5 (because they waited 7 years to indict).
This is on top of actually proving he did what he's accused of. It's a big gamble for the DOJ, because if they fail in applying the espionage act in a US court (which would be required in order to prosecute him at all), the result would gut the espionage act with the precedent it sets.
The Obama administration, even with its hardline stance against whistleblowers, didn't touch this case for good reason.
1. They must successfully argue that he is not a journalist, or was not acting as a journalist at the time.
2. They must successfully argue that the federal crimes he's accused of also constitute an act of terrorism under section 2332b (which gives the test in subsection (g)(5): "is calculated to influence or affect the conduct of government by intimidation or coercion, or to retaliate against government conduct") in order for the indictment to be valid under an 8 year statute of limitations rather than 5 (because they waited 7 years to indict).
This is on top of actually proving he did what he's accused of. It's a big gamble for the DOJ, because if they fail in applying the espionage act in a US court (which would be required in order to prosecute him at all), the result would gut the espionage act with the precedent it sets.
The Obama administration, even with its hardline stance against whistleblowers, didn't touch this case for good reason.