I think they intentionally waited until Trump was ousted so no one would interfere in the persecution of anyone who would tell the truth that they want hidden.
What gives the US the right to extradite him? He never did anything here.
In 2013, Assange and others in WikiLeaks helped whistleblower Edward Snowden flee from US law enforcement.
American prosecutors say Assange unlawfully helped US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal 500,000 classified diplomatic cables and military files that WikiLeaks later published, putting lives at risk.
He apparently helped at least two U.S. citizens in the commission of crimes in the U.S., and this was apparently enough for the UK Court to agree that he should be extradited. It is one thing for a publisher/journalist to publish material that he knows has been obtained illegally, but it is another thing altogether for the said publisher/journalist to aid in their being obtained illegally or to actively aid and abet criminals who have obtained classified materials illegally to evade authorities.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
And I can't help seeing it as an act of war. We wouldn't like it if the Soviet Union extradited a defector.